“After I finished the film, I went sailing for a couple of weeks and was off the coast,” says director Hans Petter Moland, downplaying the praise.
“Growth of the Soil” premieres its exclusive trailer here:
Moland wrote the script with Gard B. Eidsvold. “This book takes the pulse of that indescribable feeling of being Norwegian. Obviously, nobody lives like that today, but in ‘Growth of the Soil,’ nature is a dictator. It sets the premise for their existence.”
Produced by 4 ½ Fiction (Norway) in co-production with Scanbox Entertainment (Denmark), it’s sold by Beta Cinema.
The story follows Isak (Herbert Nordrum, seen in “The Worst Person in the World” and the upcoming “Sense and Sensibility”), who finds a place in the middle of nowhere where he decides to settle down. There, he meets Inger (Asta Kamma August from “The Hypnosis” and the other TIFF premiere “What Lies Between Us”), ostracized by her people, and together, they build a life. Over the years, they grow up – and grow apart.
“It’s an epic love story. It’s about a lifelong connection and all the trials and tribulations that come with it. Their relationship didn’t start with passion. Necessity, hunger and cold brought them together. It’s an arranged marriage – by nature. But out of that comes affection.”
“If you left people alone without societal pressures, many of our sexual taboos would probably disappear. They would just explore each other. Here, they only have each other to relate to and they are very free. Later, with their own expectations of growth and prosperity, they limit themselves without realizing it.”
In the film, set in the early 20th century, they go through a lot together, including terrible heartbreak. But to Molland, many of their struggles aren’t that different from those plaguing modern couples.
“What makes the film very universal is that two people who start out loving each other are also capable of hurting each other,” he notes.
His characters, especially Isak, find it difficult to express themselves. But that doesn’t bother Molland very much.
“I like to make movies, not ‘talkies’,” he laughs.
