Director's Statement

This is film number two of a total of four in the self-created genre of symbiophony. Vicino alla Montagna is a music and fictional film with nature and people as its main components.

The main conflict in the film is: What happens when people experience problems absorb the impressions inherent in the unified force of music and nature? 

One of the main principles is that the inner nature of the music is equal to the visual aspect, and this entity incites much of the action. Therefore, some alternative aesthetical choices in relation to the scores and sounds have to be made. These are not your typical conventional filmic choices. A symbiophony is more like an art-exhibition, where the impressions will materialise on several levels. And opposed to any music video, the pictures are edited to fit the aesthetical intentions, not necessarily to fit the rhythm or timbre in the music. Consequently, the production has a take or leave it angle.

I feel it is best to let the question remain open – without the need for an answer. The intellect will prove to be deficient anyway. Supposedly, we are all going to die and the intellect can do nothing about that. I think intellectual considerations are often a camouflaged fear of death or a substitute for some lacking life experience.

The important principle in a symbiophony is that the aesthetic and symbolic in the music at the outset weighs more heavily than the purely epic-visual. This is to create a "third eye" in addition to what we actually see and hear; almost like going to an art exhibition where one takes a philosophical part in the artwork. Often the action in the film is just a subjective suggestion – one way of many that leads to the same understanding – that which is eventually created in the mind of each audience. That is what I mean by a "third eye", which sees between the invisible lines of mood.

To start with the practical: In a symbiophony, the music is always composed first and is not meant to be anything other than music in itself – that is quite the opposite of many other films, where music and other sounds are used to emphasize a visual action.

The script and shooting script is created from the essence of the music. Everyone on the set who will leave an "artistic trace" on the film, such as camera people, helicopter pilots, recording manager and actors must immerse themselves in the music, and as a rule the music is present on the set during filming. This is important for the pace and mood of the film. The shooting script is carried out in great detail, and all of the actors' movements are precisely written down in a detailed camera segment before recording. The helicopter pilot is told to move the vehicle like a bird or wind in relation to the music– not like something that shall document anything at all.

There are three universes in Vicino alla Montagna: 1. "Reality" for humans. 2. "Nature's speech" – a lesson from Nature – always in nearly black/white. 3. Vision for human beings.

A main difference between a music video and symbiophonies is that one tries to depict a "world within a world" – that one doesn't follow "conventional, dynamic magnificence", for example by always cutting a rhythm beat in relation to the music. It can be that it is cut on a line in a tree trunk instead. For a little beetle struggling up along a small leaf the world is perhaps as dramatic as the music sounds. Pictures and music shall match the content in a picture – not necessarily what most people connect with dynamics and postcard views. Therefore one often dares to let a picture stand even if the music's character changes as far as we can judge.

I am concerned with seeing the large in what appears to be small. A large mountain is not always synonymous with intense music. I want, in other words, to bring the public with me to an abstraction level that is deeper than that visible to the eye. Therefore a certain amount of attention is required in order to take in all the small details. I have met people who have seen the film several times and who have made their own connections and had their own experiences in their own way in relation to their own lives. That was also what happened with the first film, Montagna con Forza from 2002. In this we followed a boat's journey on a mountain lake. But with both fantasy and fiction. As mentioned, I think the most simple comparison is that with going to an art exhibition. I think these aspects are exciting and the major reason why I allow myself to keep going on with this – without finding it pathetic. I have no answer – therefore I act.

I have faith in the fact that the music lives its own life anyway – that I am not really able to affect its strength. This will therefore be an art exhibition – with fiction and breaks with reality as a reflection of an open mind. Those who expect "ordinary" epic action in the film will soon encounter the world of surrealism. 

Regissørens Uttalelse - Norwegian version

Director´s Statement - PDF version

Vicino alla Montagna - Information page

Vicino alla Montagna - Production trailer (2006).

If you have a good Internet connection, please select HD quality and full screen for optimal performance.

For screening of the teaser in cinemas, TV etc. - please download the HD file on this page or contact the producer to access a download link. When screening, please force the projector to perform 16:9 (in addition to stereo HQ quality).

Director Fred Jonny Berg (up right). Photo: News on Request AS

Foto: News on Request AS. Design: Composer AS.

Vicino alla Montagna - Information page