Among young directors working today, few can match Norwegian Aleksander Nordaas'
credentials as a genuine auteur. Planting himself firmly in the Robert Rodriguez tradition of do-it-all-yourself moviemaking, Nordaas wrote, directed,
co-produced, shot, decorated the set for,
and edited his feature film Thale, which took three years to complete and debuted at Norway's
Bergen International Film Festival in January 2012. After playing the Toronto Film Festival the
following fall, Thale was picked up for distribution by XLrator Media, which showed it briefly in
theaters in March before a general release on Blu-ray and DVD the following month.
Thale is a fine example of minimalist fantasy, utilizing a small cast and a few locations for all
they're worth and suggesting much more than it actually shows. Some viewers have complained
that the film takes too long to get to the point, but Nordaas has constructed his story so that the
journey is more interesting than the destination. How often can that be said of the usual studio
fare?
Nordaas' inspiration for Thale was the Norwegian legend of the "huldra", a kind of forest sprite
that appears in the shape of a beautiful woman with long hair and a cow's tail. To the man who
encounters her, the huldra can be either lucky or spiteful, and sometimes both. Around this
ancient lore, Nordaas built a contemporary story that can be sketched only in broad outlines
without major spoilers. The following account must be, of necessity, brief.
Leo (Jon Sigve Skard) and Elvis (Erlend Nervold) do the messy job of forensic cleanup. As
anyone who saw Sunshine Cleaning will recall,
this is specialized work that requires a strong
stomach—which Elvis lacks entirely. He pukes constantly at the revolting sights that greet the
pair on each job. (Even though these putrid scenes are shown only in short bursts, I don't
recommend Thale for mealtime viewing.) Even though Elvis seems unsuited to the work, Leo
still employs him. One gets the sense that they've known each other for a long time.
One day, as Elvis is retching over the remains of an elderly woman, Leo receives a call directing
the pair to a remote cabin for a job the following day. When they arrive, they find about half the
body of an old man scattered about, presumably by wild animals, with the other half unaccounted
for. It is Elvis who notices a subterranean opening inside a separate structure and, against Leo's
advice, insists on investigating. The aperture leads down some steps into an underground set of
rooms, where the pair discovers empty and expired canned goods, extensive tools and lab
equipment, an old refrigerator that appears to be still running and a collection of cassette tapes
with dates from the early 1980s. The tapes contain cryptic dictations from a man who is
presumably the cabin's former occupant, along with strange vocalizations they can't identify.
Eventually, Leo and Elvis also find a frightened, naked and exceptionally strong young woman
they believe to be called "Thale", based on what they've heard on the tapes. She says nothing, but
appears to understand them. She also seems to recognize the voice on the recordings. Gradually,
Leo and Elvis discover that Thale has additional abilities, as well as a few features not typically
found on a young woman.
Meanwhile, the idyllic surroundings of the lakeside locale are the scene of ever more
questionable events. Mysterious figures race through the forest, closing in on the cabin for
unknown purposes. We catch glimpses of some of these figures when Leo goes outside to make
phone calls and get supplies from his truck, and they do not look quite normal. There are other
presences we're aware of only from their point-of-view shots. Just as Leo and Elvis are expecting
help and aid from Einar, the individual who sent them to the cabin, he calls to say that he's been
"delayed". They're stuck in the middle of nowhere with Thale and each other—and whoever else
is out there.
Nordaas knows how to exploit multiple varieties of paranoia: fear of tight spaces filled with
strange objects, fear of a vast forest teeming with unknown forces, fear of the confidences that
even your friends keep from you, fear of our own weaknesses (like Elvis' delicate stomach), fear
of ruthless forces operating in the shadows, fear that the flash in the corner of your eye may be
more than a trick of the light. The antidotes in Thale turn out to be remarkably square and old-fashioned: kindness, generosity, loyalty
to friends and family and, most of all, true love.
Definitive information on Thale's shooting format was not available, but the appearance is
obviously that of digital video. To my eye, it appeared to be high-end consumer-grade equipment
rather than a professional system such as the Arri Alexa or one of the Red cameras, but the result
on XLrator's 1080p, AVC-encoded Blu-ray is a satisfyingly clean and detailed image with
reasonably solid blacks and well-saturated primary colors in scenes that are fully lit. In the many
scenes in the underground rooms, a sickly yellow or green cast tints everything, because the
illumination is poor, and the effect contributes to the sense of claustrophobia and danger. The
images of the surrounding forest in the outdoor scenes are breathtakingly detailed and beautiful,
but also forbidding in their sense of isolation and coldness.
The film's running time is short, and the only extra is a trailer. At an average bitrate of 28.77
Mbps, compression artifacts are not an issue.
The sophistication of Thale's sound editing is demonstrated not by showy surround effects, but
by the careful layering and alternation of the dialogue (and breathing) of the two main characters
with the various sounds that issue from the recorded tapes they find in the abandoned cabin
basement, as well as the otherworldly sounds that issue from Thale herself. In outdoor scenes,
there are distant (and also nearby) rustlings that pass quickly through the sound field and are
meant to have an unsettling effect. A sequence near the end that cannot be described without
spoilers has been carefully edited to converge the sounds of two scenes occurring simultaneously
into one aural event. All of this sound work has a natural and effective presence on the Blu-ray's
DTS-HD MA 5.1 track, which includes the original Norwegian dialogue. I presume the dialogue
is clearly conveyed but do not have the linguistic knowledge to form an independent judgment.
An English dub track is available in Dolby Digital 2.0, but when I sampled it, I found the voices
wholly unsuitable to the characters of Leo and Elvis.
The sparse musical accompaniment is credited to Raymond Enoksen and Geirmund Simonsen,
who have extensive credits in Norwegian TV.
The disc's only supplement is the film's theatrical trailer (1080p; 1.78:1; 2:00). At
startup, the disc plays trailers (in 1080p) for The
Thompsons, Bigfoot: The Lost Coast
Tapes and
Outpost: Black Sun. These can be skipped
with the chapter forward button and are not otherwise
available once the disc loads.
Thale is the kind of film that enthuses reviewers and often disappoints fans of horror and fantasy.
It's a low-budget effort with a minimalist aesthetic, and it works primarily at the level of
suggestion and character interaction. But its creator has put a lot of thought into what he wants to
achieve, and that's a rare thing in contemporary filmmaking, which too often is more interested
in dazzling the senses than engaging the mind. When you can't throw money at the screen, you're
forced to be inventive, and people like Nordaas who do it well are a rare and valuable find.
Highly recommended.
XLrator Media has announced the Blu-ray release of Norwegian writer/director Aleksander L. Nordaas' Thale, starring Silje Reinåmo as the titular creature and Erlend Nervold and Jon Sigve Skard as co-workers who discover the beautiful mythological beast. The film ...
