| Cool & Crazy | 
| Director: Knut Erik Jensen
Actors: Odd Marino Frantzen, Einar F.l. Strand, Arne Wensel, Kare Wensel, Arne Blomso
Studio: FIRST RUN FEATURES
Category: DVD
List Price: $29.95
Buy New: $17.48
You Save: $12.47 (42%)
Buy New/Used from $16.25
Avg. Customer Rating:   (9 reviews)
Sales Rank: 49493
Format: Color, Dvd-video, Ntsc, Subtitled, Widescreen
Languages: English (Subtitled), Swedish (Original Language)
Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Media: DVD
Running Time: 89 minutes
Number Of Items: 1
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.1 x 5.4 x 0.6
UPC: 720229910064
EAN: 0720229910064
ASIN: B000060MU7
Release Date: April 23, 2002
Theatrical Release Date: 2001
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
Much as Buena Vista Social Club revealed a rich and unexplored world of music and culture, Cool & Crazy introduces us to a group of men who find purpose, companionship and even fame, as members of the Berlevag Male Choir in Norway. From singing above precipitous cliffs during a raging snowstorm, to the backstage maneuverings on their Russian tour, Cool & Crazy revels in the spirit of these rugged men as they bare their souls through songs of faith and hope.
The Berlevag Male Choir, the unlikeliest of movie stars, is a group of 30 or so fisherman--the youngest at age 30, the oldest in his 90s--from a little village on the northernmost coast of Europe on the banks of the Barent sea which has a practically uninterrupted view of the North Pole.
In Cool & Crazy one of Norway's most experienced directors, Knut Erik Jensen, captures this otherworldly environment in a majestic and profound manner. We witness the lives of a group of stout-hearted men, perched above the edge of the Barent Sea, facing the unforgiving onslaught of icy Arctic waves, dressed for their 'engagements' in navy suit jackets, black bow ties and white sailors caps. For some, this will be a film about men, for others it will be about love, or politics, or fish. Above all it is about the beauty and dignity of ordinary lives lived under extreme circumstances.
Cool & Crazy has enjoyed incredible success in its native Norway, where over half a million people have seen it. It was voted 'Best of the Festival' at the 2001 Edinburgh Film Festival-- The Guardian called it "The best movie about music since Buena Vista Social Club." Cool & Crazy made its US premiere at the Chicago International Film Festival, where it won the Gold Hugo Award for Best Documentary, before opening in theatres around the country to great critical acclaim.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 4 more reviews...
A Very Different Sequel November 6, 2007
Cool and Crazy was a wonderful film about the Berlevag men's chorus. The original film interspersed interviews with the mostly aging chorus members, living in a tiny Norwegian fishing village, with scenes of the chorus performing songs against the local scenery (And, as the town is located above the arctic circle, the conditions shown are often quite severe). It was a charmer.
Well, the sequel features the chorus during a U.S. tour. Regrettably, the chorus is in New York city on September 11, 2001. The events of that tragic day inevitably overwhelm the film. The director works very hard to absorb, honor, and make sense out of the American reaction to the attack, but it is clearly not the kind of film that he had been prepared to make. Many of the Norwegian chorus members express concern about what the attack will do to America, and their comments are eerily prescient as we look back now six years later. Watching this is worthwhile, but not "fun."
I do recommend the movie as a fascinating look at 9/11--as it happened--from the perspective of these kindly Norwegians. It is still a pleasure to spend time with these men, but don't look for the joy that so many of us loved in the original.
Lusty song in a land of ice May 29, 2007
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
My wife hated this film, but I loved it. Not sure why exactly, as it has lots going against it.
The film focuses on a few of the 30-odd members of the Berlevag Men's Choir. They live in a small arctic fishing village on the northern tip of the Norwegian coast, and seem to have no lives to speak of other than their involvement in the choir. A couple of the older gents (the 96-year-old kind of old) have wives, but the rest seem to live in mateless isolation. The film alternates between handheld monologues (in which the men talk about themselves) and set pieces in which the choir -- dressed in bowties, parkas or natty sailing caps -- sing of the natural glories of Scandinavia whilst perched comically upon enormous gasoline tanks, along the winter-whipped Atlantic, or enshrouded in beard-encasing blizzards. The men are quite ordinary -- a fisherman who giggles as he pulls his catch from the sea; a former druggie; a self-styled communist who weeps when pondering wartime Russian sacrifice; an irreverent, foul-mouthed (and fumble-fingered) church organist. On their way to a concert, all (except for the communist) stare aghast at the environmental devastation of the Murmansk industrial area. Dwellers in a land with a harsh beauty, they are clearly in love with it and inured to its limitations, both social and scenic.
I found these men fascinating and their music beautiful. Unintended ironies abound. The men sing of the beauty of pine bough and flower blosssom in a place that is stark and unforgiving much of the year. They sing of church in a land where religion seems to have no hold on anyone. The most beautiful thing they have is their spare Nordic furnishings and their camaraderie. Somehow, though, of all of this coalesces into a film that held my attention and made me love this group of very real, very special men.
 Luke Warm & Relaxed April 3, 2006
1 out of 5 found this review helpful
I have read several reviews that ask the question, "Why was this film made"? I myself found that question looming in my mind as the hour and twenty minute feature seemed to drag near the middle, only to give off the sensation that it was picking up steam at the end, when in actuality it was doing nothing of the sort. So, "Why was this film made"? I think that is a great question for those watching Heftig og begeistret to ask themselves. This reviewer is proud of director Knut Erik Jensen for giving us this powerful image of hope, brotherhood, and inspiration with this all male choir, but I do not think that Jensen did enough to bring a gripping story to the table. Let me pose this question to you, "Do audience members need more in a documentary than just a straight forward story to maintain interest"? My answer is yes, and this is where Jensen failed. Heftig og begeistret was a good documentary, but it was far from great. Jensen did a horrible job with the story and dedication of the subjects. It was great to hear the songs, but over time, those songs seemed dull, overwhelming, and a bit precocious. From the opening scene where our men are singing their hearts out in a blinding snow, I knew that I was hooked, but as the film developed I lost interest. Why? Jensen never took us, the audience members, to the next level. He kept the playing field level and ultimately hurt the overall tone of the film. Was this a movie about the music or about the men in the choir? The world may never know.
Again, I would like to state that Jensen did a phenomenal job of finding an interesting story about this group of men who have definitely seen hard times and how they coped with that through music, but it was as if the all male choir were a bunch of the most boring men ever created. Jensen gave us the music superbly, but it was the characters, the subjects, that I knew nothing about by the end of the film. In the mix we had a 97 year old man who still had his driver's license, we had a large man in a tub singing classic American songs, we had old men who were once heartthrobs in their youth, we had some tension between the youth of the choir and the veteran singers, and we even had an ex-drug addict that had only been clean for eleven years. Did Jensen develop these interesting stories at all? Nope, he left them on the table. It was obvious that these singers were willing to talk further about it (see the political man who missed his political days), but Jensen seemed to clear away from those heartfelt moments and head straight back into interesting places that he could have the choir sing. To me, the music was defined at the beginning of the film, I wanted to be introduced and hear the stories of these individual men. They were all captivating, yet Jensen seemed to ignore them completely.
By ignoring the major subjects of this documentary, Jensen became unsuccessful in creating any sort of tension towards the end. Without giving the ending away, I felt like Jensen was coloring in the lines. Instead of being bold outside the lines, he chose to create no moment of sympathy, emotion, nervousness, or sadness. Jensen took our subjects from point A to point B to point C without asking us to become involved in any way shape or form. I can see how national sentiment had made this film into a huge success in Norway, but for everyone else watching (i.e. ME) more was necessarily needed. I wanted to feel for these guys. I wanted to know if they were going to do well as they traveled, or just find themselves loved in their own city. There was no story, mostly in part to no development of the subjects. When you watch modern documentaries (oddly, this film was made in 2001), you want it to play out similar to any Hollywood feature film. You want suspense, realism, and drama, alas, with Heftig og begeistret you get nothing of the sort.
Overall, I must ask the question again, "Why was this film made"? My final answer Alex, is that Jensen wanted to show how troubling times and a changing economy can still produce happiness in even the coldest places of Earth. I think that Jensen wanted to show human dedication and how something as simple as singing can unite a population. With that said, Jensen demonstrated that perfectly in this film, but he did not create a good documentary. When you make a film of this nature, I feel that you must look within the group, examine the choir participants and hear each one of their stories to bring about an ending that will grip your heart. The only thing that this film gripped was my attention span as it attempted to leave the room at rocket speed. Again, I do not want to sound negative about this film because the music was excellent and the men singing did bring about a feeling of honesty, but I needed more. With documentaries becoming a bigger staple of the film community, one expects a bit more than what Heftig og begeistret handed to us. I want to see reality and people, not just another song and dance routine!
Grade: ** out of *****
 Moving and uplifting March 1, 2005
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
I adored this film. Like others, I found it slow at first, but once immersed in the lives of these remote villagers, I was hooked. It's heartbreaking, uplifting, funny, and inspirational. What a wonderful contrast to the life we lead in the corporate, TV-driven USA. I'm sending it to all my (grown) kids.
Another great film November 11, 2003
5 out of 6 found this review helpful
If you think Cool and Crazy is good, I recommend you check out another film from Scandinavia, Screaming Men by Mika Ronkainen. Yes, it's another film about a choir, but it's totally something you've never experienced before. It's a choir that screams national anthems and children's songs... Totally unique stuff!
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