A lonely pianist on one side of a wall.
A couple with domestic problems on the other.
They can hear each other.
This is a film about singles and couples, about the chance to start over again, about how music affects us and how we affect music.
Two neighbours. A lonely pianist on one side of the wall. A couple with domestic problems on the other. They can hear each other. This film – Rose d’Or award winner 2010 – is about man and woman, about single people, about the chance to start over again, about chances that are long gone. It is also a film about how music affects us, and how we affect music. In a big apartment in Frogner, Oslo, Norway, a couple argues and fights about being together. Boxes with separate belongings are already brought outside the flat. Their neighbour is a lonesome pianist, annoyed and bedeviled by the couple’s endless quarrels. He plays the piano, Leoš Janáček: “In the Mist”. The sound penetrates through the walls. Slowly the couple unconsciously succumbs to the influence of the music and ends up deciding to cease fighting and resolve their argument, and maybe unpack the boxes again. The engagements of internationally renowned choreographer Jo Strømgren range from classical companies like Vienna State Opera ballet, Ballet de l’Opera National du Rhin and the Norwegian National Ballet to contemporary ensembles such as Cedar Lake Dance Company, Göteborg Opera Ballet, Stadttheater Bern Ballett and the Cloud Gate Ensemble.
The film features dancers Line Tørmoen and Dimitri Jourde – two top level creative performers with background from Carte Blanche Dance Company, Kublai Khan Investigations, Zero Visibility Corp, Jo Strømgren Kompani, Francois Verret, Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, and others.
The film also features Leif Ove Andsnes – a pianist that should need no introduction to anyone interested in classical music. As one of the most accomplished musicians of the world he is constantly playing worldwide with solo recitals or accompanied by the most distinguished orchestras. His part in this project differs radically from his regular performances by the fact that his music interpretation is submitted motivations as a theatrical character.
The location of the film was Jo Strømgren’s private flat in Oslo during a period in August 2009.