Light from the Chocolate Factory
Light from the Chocolate Factory addresses serious issues such as responsibility and morals in a humorous and absurd tone. It is a dialogue-driven film, a "musical about music and morals" where conversations are merged with pieces by Aleksandr Skrjabin, Lalo Schifrin, Claude Vivier, and Maurice Ravel. As in many of Haugerud's films, humor often emerges through what is felt or thought, and what is being said or not being said.
About the film
Real estate agent Ingrid (Andrea Bræin Hovig) and her friend Maria, a composer, meet in connection with a mutual girlfriend getting married. It has been agreed upon to create a song on the occasion of the wedding, but the idea turns out to be more difficult to realize than expected. Ingrid in particular has trouble focusing on the task after a friend suggested that she more or less took the life of her own mother, by taking her on a ride that ended in an accident. We follow Andrea and Maria through several meetings leading up to the wedding, and more or less fruitful conversations about key phrases, syntax, conscience and forgiveness.
About the filmmaker
Dag Johan Haugerud (b. 1964) is a writer and filmmaker, known for the award-winning feature film As You See Me. He made his debut as an author in 1999 with the novel Noe med natur. In 2002 he published the novel Den som er veldig sterk, må også være veldig snill, which was translated into French and published in France. In 2011 he followed up with the novel Hva jeg betyr, which was brilliantly received and was among the critics' favourites in Aftenposten. For his fourth novel, Enkle atonale stykker for barn, Haugerud received the P2 Listeners Novel Prize in 2016.