Tremors in 'Broken Hill Blues' are metaphor for society: Swedish director

Cinema is not just about entertainment. Sometimes, filmmakers bring stories that mirror the society it is set in. Swedish director Sofia Norlin toes the line with "Broken Hill Blues" ("Omheten").

Braving nature while shooting with professional and non-actors in minus 32 degrees without much sunlight, Norlin's camera peeks into the life of people in a mining town in Sweden. While exploring vulnerability and fragility of human beings, the instances in the film become metaphors for the society, she says.

A mix of documentary and fiction, the complex story unfolds via several depressed teens growing up in Kiruna, a town on the verge of collapsing as the earth beneath has become so fragile from mining that it often trembles.

Norlin was "keen to shoot the film in the town she grew up in", but finally zeroed on Kiruna and deftly juxtaposes the modern society with nature.

"I have used the tremors as metaphor for society which is shaking ecologically and economically," she said at the screening of the film at the ongoing Mumbai Film Festival, where it is being shown in the international competition section.

What fascinated her is that "on one hand one hand there are industries, which are so high-tech and on the other nature, which is so old."

Shown at Tribeca Film Festival, "Broken Hill Blues" stars Sebastian Hiort af Ornas as the aimless, angry, and confused teenager Markus, who is unable to connect with the life and people around him except for his friend Daniel (Alfred Juntii) and Helena (Janny Sandberg) who keeps herself busy with photography and swimming.

Why the focus on teenagers?

"Teenagers are symbolic -- the world is open for them and they can decided what should they be and the society be," she said.

Tell her that the narrative lacks clarity and Norlin, who moved to Paris 20 years ago and works with teenagers in the suburbs of the city, said: "It is not a straight story and I am not giving any answers."

"I wanted to make something that raises questions like 'what we leave behind for the future generation'. Or it asks philosophical and spiritual questions like 'how we can live with nature in togetherness' -- something that we don't seem to do in modern and urban society," Norlin told IANS.

"It asks questions about one's relation with nature and each other," she added.

She admits that while filming, she was looking for an unsettling feeling in the story and characters, some of which were played by non-actors.

She says that the film also symbolises what we are leaving behind for the future generation.

"We took out the iron from the mountain and then we leave those mountains of iron garbage and the children walk through them. And I think, this is what we leave behind for the children," said the director, who was pregnant while shooting the film, and added that that she is worried about the future generations.

The slow pace, fewer dialogues, lack of clarity and the unsettling feel in the film may not appeal to many, but it is an interesting story to watch.

Norlin says that "Broken Hill Blues" was possible after she won the prize at the Stockholm International Film Festival, which had launched the Feature Film Award to encourage female directors.

(Arpana can be contacted at arpana.s@ians.in)