Info

Synopsis

Karen is getting married to Tord, with whom she is expecting a child. Even is Tord’s best man; it’s just a shame that he too is in love with Karen. Tord has to go to Singapore on a business trip and asks Even to look after Karen while he is gone. Which he does. He starts to get close to Karen. A little too close... Even leads a directionless life, he is the kind of guy who never completes anything that demands a little effort.

Tord is the opposite: A perfect son-in-law with a prestigious job, a talented surfer and the beautiful Karen as his bride to be. The last part is especially hard to stomach for Even, who’s secretly been in love with Karen for as long as he can remember. At the wedding, he is bitter and behaves even more embarrassing and drunk than usual. Even wakes up with a hangover the day

Tord has to leave for Singapore. Tord asks his friend to help Karen refurnish their kitchen while he is gone. The beer-swilling, unhealthy Even decides to temporarily quit drinking. In order to reach Tord’s level of wavemastery he buys a surfboard hoping that this will impress Karen. At first he’s a prime candidate for drowning, but Skip, a surfing legend, takes Even under his wing and becomes his mentor.

Tord is gone a long time – and even longer still. While he is gone Karen becomes more and more vulnerable and scared as the birth of her baby draws nearer. Even becomes a great comfort and support for her. Karen and Even are getting closer. Her feelings are as chaotic and tumultuous as the waves off the Jæren coast. The forces of nature are rising. Monsterthursday is coming!

Director's statement

”Monsterthursday” is a love story set in a surfing environment on the west coast of Norway..

The lovestory is combined with some of the conventions of the Sportfilm genre, like ”Rocky” and ”Karate kid”.  It is a film about love and the search for oneself more than a story about surfing . We have a strong surf-plot and some of the archetype characters from this kind of film – the ”mentor” Skip, the ”helper” Beckstrøm and the antagonist Tord.

The central theme in the film however, is love. And my goal has been to fuse the surfing with the emotional waves inside the characters so to speak. The sportsfilm-aspect is played with a good portion of ironic distance, but for the characters it is genuine. The film is playing with the rules and expectations attached to such films.

It is a surffilm from Norway, which is not exactly California. We exploit this contrast in the film – wintersurfing in degrees below cero and water as cold as ice againts the dream of bikinis and sunshine.

I work to give the audience a feeling of participation in the waves. For me Evens fight for standing up on the board is more interesting than showing surf of high quality.
But most important to me is exploring relationships and the choices we make in our life.