Zano
is the worst sort of over the hill hipster. He is a vampire. Technically, he is
not getting any older, but he is still not maturing much either. Yet, he
somehow comes across rather world weary and sad. Much to his own surprise, Zano
will learn even he has an ethical line he will not cross in Yannis Veslemes’
feverishly odd Norway (trailer here), which screens sometime
during the 2014 Fantastic Festival.
It
is 1984 and disco still rules Athens’ nightclubs. Zano has come for some
hedonism, but he cannot connect with the mortician friend who is supposed to be
his host. Making his way to a low-rent discotheque, Zano drinks, dances, and
strikes out with live-bodied women he puts the moves on. In the process, he
crosses paths with a former actor-turned gangster and a fellow vampire who
looks even sicklier than he does. However, things really get complicated when
he meets Alice, an earthly party girl, who is also a bit of a predator herself.
Frankly,
they have a rather awkward introduction, considering the way Zano chomps down
on the neck of her Norwegian drug dealer, Peter. Yet, somehow they both go off
into the night together, pulling along the zombie-like Peter as he undergoes
the undead transformation. It seems Zano will eventually get what he wants from
Alice, but he suspects she might be have a secret agenda, which of course she
does.
It
is hard to believe Norway and popular
franchises like Twilight, True Blood, and Vampire Diaries share any sort of kinship, despite their common
ostensible subject of vampires. From the trance-inducing music to the hazy
ultra-1980s cinematography, Norway is
more of a contact-buzz than a proper horror film. There is no denying the stylishness
of Veslemes’ approach, particularly his undisguised use of model trains during
Zano’s travel sequences. Cinematography Christos Karamanis gives it all an
unusually striking look that evokes classic film noir and vintage comic art.
Yet,
probably Veslemes’ most bizarre ingredient is the scruffy hound dog Vangelis
Mourikis, head-bobbing his way through the film as Zano. Somehow Mourikis and
Veslemes successfully walk a fine line, making their protagonist vampire a
total loon, but not so far out there we can’t relate to him on some hard to
define level.
