22 July, written and directed by Paul Greengrass, based on the book One of Us by Asne Seierstad - Eight out of 10

22 July, written and directed by Paul Greengrass, based on the book One of Us by Asne Seierstad

Eight out of 10

22 July is the date when, in 2011, an extremist called Anders Behring Breivik has killed seventy-seven people in the most unlikely country of all – Norway.

Paul Greengrass has already proved the genius with which he can present the details, panoramic view, extreme human tension, and excruciating drama when he has handled with brilliance the story of United 93.

The handling of this other calamity is no less astute, although it is sometimes, perhaps most of the time, difficult to establish if using the Norwegian cast has made this ever more compelling or it is less dramatic in this way.

There is certain coldness, or the appearance of a detachment, which could certainly be the Nordic way of interiorizing, hiding instead of expressing emotions in the way people from the south, Mediterraneans would do it.

Breivik is the terrorist who took single handedly the task of killing as many as possible, in order to promote his extreme right views that Europe should halt the arrival of refugees from Muslim – and presumably other communities and religions – countries.

In order to “advertise” his views he buys fertilizer and the other ingredients needed for a bomb that, once made, he places near the offices of the Norwegian Prime minister, Jens Stoltenberg.

The guards watching the security cameras see the van that is parked outside and they send a man to verify it, but by the time the unknown vehicle is approached, the device is set off and people are killed and injured, the square is sent into mayhem.

Meanwhile, the murderer is driving a car towards the island of Utoya, dressed in the uniform of the police and carrying suitcases with guns and ammunition to the place where a major conference is held at the Labor Party Youth Camp.

Breivik would be given the chance to explain himself and he would say that he wanted to target the party he hates most, the one most friendly towards immigrants where it hurts most, killing the children of the leaders, those who would have become leaders themselves.

When the terrorist arrives at the shore opposite the island, he calls for the ferry to cross and he states that he is sent by the Oslo police department to secure the area and he talks to two of the organizers about the fact that all personnel is summoned to the bombing that just took place.

This is the reason he gives for being sent alone, which might have triggered one alarm bell, but when one of the supervisors talks about someone he knows at the police headquarters and the villain has little to say on the subject, this might have been reason to become suspicious.

When the man asking about his friend with the Oslo police asks for an ID, the killer takes out one of his guns and then shoots the people near him from close distance, moving on to systematically murder young men and women all around the island.

He walks into the meeting rooms, shouting and announcing all those present that they are about to die, then moves among the trees, takes a rifle that has a scope and then kills more of those who try to run and hide wherever they can.

Viljar Hanssen becomes one of the main characters of this drama, and his group tries to hide near the water, by staying suspended near something like a cliff, where the terrorist eventually arrives and shoots more of those who run for their lives, hitting the young man five times.

Viljar Hanssen is hit in his shoulder, head and legs, he would have to be operated, the surgeon would try to take the bullet out of his head and the others in the rest of the body, but fragments would remain and he would face the danger that any time, one of those remaining pieces in the head would kill him…at any moment.

The Special Forces eventually arrive and arrest the monster who would not show any remorse, on the contrary, he would insist that he needs to talk at the trial, where he states that he has committed a “political act”.

In the first stages of the investigation, the law enforcement agencies are concerned by the repeated claims made by the assassin that there are others and they are about to launch other attacks.

The arrogance, brazenness, incredible calm, vicious indifference to what is being said during the interviews and then at the trial are incredible, although this is probably a classic case of the ultimate psychopath.

A psychopath is one who experiences no emotions or feelings, but is able to exploit the sentiments of others to extraordinary effect, just like the loathsome, gruesome Breivik, who felt nothing, but was obsessed with his ego and the calamitous goals he pursued to the end.

A defense lawyer is available for him – who would be threaten by those who feel he is defending a monster, just like in Bridge of Spies – and professionals are sent to assess his mental health – they arrive initially at the conclusion that he is paranoid, but he wants to be on trial as a sane individual.

Finally, it is hard to conclude if this is a landmark, even if it is definitely memorable, but it is difficult to estimate how much of the overwhelming effect is due to the real story and how much to the rather rigid Norwegian cast’s retelling of it.