Winner of the main prize at the Berlin Film Festival, Dreams tells the story of 17-year-old Johanne, who comes to terms with her love for her teacher by writing a sensual text about her feelings. A year after her infatuation, Johanne shares the text with her mother and grandmother, who react in very different ways. The mother wonders whether to launch an investigation into the school and the teacher, while the poet-grandmother recognises the literary talent in the text.
Writer-director Dag Johan Haugerud builds the film largely around Johanne’s text and voice, allowing the intimate personal experience to unfold as an emotional portrayal of first love. Glances, touches and everyday moments take on a larger-than-life meaning when seen through bittersweet love. The film depicts the dream of infatuation that can seem real until everyday reality changes everything.
All parts of Haugerud’s successful Sex Dreams Love trilogy deal with themes of romantic relationships. Some have looked to Lukas Moodysson’s depiction of young love in Fucking Åmål for comparison, but comparing Haugerud’s film to others seems pointless. Each part of the trilogy deals with themes in a refreshing departure from the formulaic conventions of romantic comedy. In the future, other films will be compared to Haugerud’s.
Otto Kylmälä