The characters in Kunsten å Tenke Negativt though are not only depressed psychologically, but are also handicapped physically. And what they do is, instead of false smiles and illusions of happiness, to face the reality, and unfortunately, reality is not the most beautiful scene in their lives.
Kunsten å Tenke Negativt is a 2006 Norwegian movie by Bård Breien, about a group of handicapped people who choose to fight against their problems by trying to hit rock bottom. In the beginning of the film, we meet a local disability group who try to see the good things and the light in whatever they face with, despite the difficulties; Marte, who is paralyzed from the neck down after falling from the climbing rope; Gard, Marte's boyfriend, who does not have any physical disability but feels responsible from Marte's falling, well, after all he is the one who forgot to tight the rope; Lillemor, a lonely and bitter divorcee who had to live in a tiny apartment with a little money after a wealthy life with her ex-husband; and Asbjørn, a speechless stroke patient. Their leader, Tori, who is a professional in the positive thinking method, help them to go with their lives without falling down to darkness of depression; whenever they want to express a negative opinion, they have a little bag that Tori gives them, in which they express their negativity.
The group, one day, visits another handicapped patient, Geirr, in his home where he lives with his wife, Ingvild, after she calls them for help. Geirr, a wheelchair bound after an accident, is in the deepest depression, without any attempt to ask for help from or to communicate with Ingvild, and spends his time in his room drinking, watching war movies and taking lots of pills, with a gun always next to him. When the group arrives in their house, he does not want to participate in the meeting, and he even attacks them; however, with the threat of Ingvild leaving him, he decides to - kind of - join them, and he quickly realizes that these people are also not so far from negativity either; the smiles on their faces, their kindness and affections are nothing but fake, mostly because of Tori's almost tyranny and forced discipline to lead them to the light of optimism (I, personally, wanted to smash her face). Brutally separating Tori away from the group, Geirr, with all his negative manners, help the others reveal what they really feel, and after an uncomfortable night of awful truths and bizarre confrontations, they learn the art of negative thinking, while Tori, Ingvild and Gard learn that they should walk in their shoes, in order to fully understand what they have been living through.
Kunsten å Tenke Negativt is an interesting mixture of comedy and tragedy. It is both an interesting and brilliant work, without ever stumbling upon unnecessary drama and taboos about the handicapped, in the end, giving something real to everyone in general; one must face the depression and the reality of difficulties and should not repress the need to express anger. These people are angry; angry with their irresponsible boyfriends, angry with their ex-husbands, angry with the accidents, and angry with an all too soon stroke that has taken away everything. One should, at first, accept all these realities about their situations and if needed, should shout, cry, hate and curse, before seeing the light, not the fake one, but real light, in the end.
The Scandinavians did it again; breaking the rules of story-telling and breaking the taboos of stories, they once again showed us the reality, and they did it without being all too didactic. Whether you are a positive thinker, or a negative one, like me, you should see this movie, and maybe one day you can taste the beauty of misery.
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