Helle Nächte

A film by Thomas Arslan. In German.

Austrian civil engi­neer Michael lives with his girl­fri­end in Berlin. For years, he has bare­ly had any cont­act with his 14-year-old son Luis. When Michael’s father dies the two none­thel­ess tra­vel tog­e­ther to the fun­e­ral which is held in the remo­te north of Norway. At the deceased’s secluded home Michael beg­ins to pack up his late father’s per­so­nal items – wat­ched in silence by his son. Two peo­p­le who bare­ly know each other are sud­den­ly caught in an inti­ma­te situa­ti­on. After the fun­e­ral, Michael sur­pri­ses Luis by sug­gest­ing that they spend a few days tog­e­ther explo­ring the regi­on. A road movie beg­ins that is also a jour­ney into their non-exis­tent shared past. Being tog­e­ther turns out to be more dif­fi­cult than expec­ted. Never having spent any time with each other on a dai­ly basis, they have trou­ble hand­ling their rela­ti­onship. Whilst Michael glos­ses over this situa­ti­on, Luis can’t hide how hurt he is. His father’s long years of absence stand bet­ween them like a wall. When they are in the car tog­e­ther it feels like the calm befo­re a storm. During the long days of the sum­mer sol­sti­ce, days when the sun never sets, Michael tri­es to break the repe­ti­ti­ve cycle and find a joint way forward.

 

Deutschland / Norwegen 2017, 86 Min.

Regie, Buch: Thomas Arslan
Kamera: Reinhold Vorschneider
Schnitt: Reinaldo Pinto Almeida

mit:
Georg Friedrich (Michael)
Tristan Göbel (Luis)
Marie Leuenberger (Leyla)
Hanna Karlberg (Cecilia)