When I hear the word “troll,” I think of a little ugly person who lives under a bridge. This is not the case when it comes to the Norwegian film “The Troll Hunter.” The trailer for this film looks as though “Cloverfield” and “The Blair Witch Project” had a drunken night together, and you know what? I don’t care what anyone says, I dig it!
The story revolves around a bear poacher and some students who are filming a documentary on said poacher. But as it turns out, poaching bears is not his forte — it’s hunting trolls for the Norwegian government. The “found footage” shooting technique that the film takes advantage of is a style that I am a fan of. With technology so much a part of our lives, I only find it more plausible that characters would have the means to video tape and document their experiences.
One of the highlights in the trailer, for me, was the fact that although these trolls are by no means little people under bridges, the director did take advantage of that particular myth and what he did was he threw his interpretation of what a troll should look like on and around a bridge. Its subtle, yet iconic, and I think it’s those subtleties that audiences really respond to. Even though this is a foreign language film, I think it’s one that audiences can adapt to quickly because of the familiarity, and yet I hope its originality shines through which is difficult in any language.
This is my type of film for a couple reasons: it’s in the thriller/scary type genre, and it’s made its way through various film festivals. Not-so-mainstream buzz is really where my attention goes. It’s easy to get people talking about the mainstream blockbusters; everyone has heard of them or seen the merchandising. But when you get a buzz going around a smaller film of this caliber, what happens is the followers feel very connected and supportive of the film.
“The Troll Hunter” made its debut back near Halloween time 2010 in Norway, and has since made its way through the festival circuit. On May 6, the film was made available via various On Demand services — which I think is not only brilliant, but is the future of how we market cinema. But this seems like a big-screen-worthy picture, wouldn’t you say? Well, don’t worry, June 10 will mark the U.S. debut of “The Troll Hunter” in select theaters with plans for expansion. “The Troll Hunter” is one I’m going to check out asap, it looks visually awesome, it has a uniqueness about it, and I’m curious to see how Norway does this type of film.
. . .
Follow Jessika Owens on Twitter at http://twitter.com/jessika.
And don’t forget to “Like” It’s Just Movies on Facebook at
http://www.facebook.com/itsjustmovies