FILM REVIEW: Headhunters

10 out of 10

Aksel Hennie/Buscemi decides where to from here?

Its not often you get to go to a film without having seeing a frame or hearing a whisper in some sort of preview or promotion. I went into Headhunters in such fashion. I knew nothing of its synopsis, nor anything of its background or origins. I didn't even realise it was foreign language (Norwegian) until the subtitles appeared. I'm not sure how much this contributed to my enjoyment of the film, my instinct tells me quite a bit, but enjoy it I did, with unexpected pleasure.

The title 'Headhunters' led me to believe it was going to be some sort of thriller. This turned out to be true as the opening scenes set the tone with a bit of Coen Brothers styled black comedy added to the mix. The other Coen Brother influence was in the casting, as the lead actor Aksel Hennie was in my view a spitting image of Steve Buscemi. His luckless character type was perfect as the story started to twist into conundrum.

The basic plotline involves a headhunter come art thief who somewhat foolishly targets an ex-special forces entrepreneur for a prized painting. The man takes objection to this and quite actively pursues Hennie (named Roger in this) for blood. It plays out plainly enough in the first act, as would a normal thriller. As soon as the second act begins however it takes a quite incredible turn, veering off track in a series of some of the most bizzare, laugh out loud sequences I've ever been ambushed by. Without spoiling too much of the fun, the 50 minutes of mayhem ensues in one of the most exhilarating passages of screen time madness I have ever seen. It left me in an uncontrollable state of hysteria as Norway quickly jumped the ranks of favourite filmmaking nations. Dark tasty slithers of early Jackson and Raimi work came to mind, but somehow maintained in a straight context. It was cinematically refreshing. The peel around the rest of this film was good too but for that 50 mins of pure gold in the middle, it gets an easy 10.