The Man Who Loved Yngve

Director:

Stian Kristiansen

Scriptwriter:

Tore Renberg, based on his own novel

Producer:

Yngve Sæther (Motlys AS)

Distribution Norway:

Sandrew Metronome

International sales:

NonStop Sales

Synopsis – The Man Who Loved Yngve

November 1989. The Berlin wall collapses. In Stavanger Norway, Jarle Klepp has no idea that everything is about to change. So far he has got everything; the best girlfriend in the world and the world’s coolest buddy. Together they will soon launch Stavanger’s toughest punk band, Mathias Rust Band. But then Yngve, the new boy in class, appears. A sparkling, dramatic, coming of age comedy, with music from some of the leading rock bands from the period, such as Stone Roses, The Cure, REM, Japan, The Jesus and Mary Chain and Joy Division. Based on the best selling book “I Loved Them All” by Tore Renberg.

About the film

The third most successful Norwegian film of 2008 (171,000 admissions as of July 2008), 'The Man Who Loved Yngve' is based on Tore Renberg’s novel of the same name which sold over 100,000 copies in Norway. Producer Yngve Sæther, a personal friend to Renberg, immediately saw the potential for a film version and convinced the novelist to tackle the screen adaptation.

What attracted Sæther to the project was the opportunity to make a coming of age film ‘with a real authenticity, a film that would have a mature feel and at the same time the energy of the youth, like Truffaut’s 'Les 400 coups', or Coppola’s 'Rumble Fish'." It took Renberg another three to four years to make the script work for the screen.

'The Man Who Loves Yngve' is set in November 1989. In Stavanger Norway, Jarle Klepp has no idea that everything is about to change. So far he has got everything; the best girlfriend in the world and the world’s coolest buddy. Together they will soon launch Stavanger’s toughest punk band, Mathias Rust Band. But then Yngve, the new boy in class, appears. He is not like anyone else, and Jarle is confused. Slowly but steadily Jarle lets everyone around him down, and finds out what it means to stand alone.

Film debutant Kristiansen, originally from Stavanger like Renberg, and a big music fan, was brought on board, although he hadn’t finished his studies at the National Film School in Lillehammer. But Sæther and Renberg were convinced by the energy of his short films. Finding the right actors aged 18-19, especially new faces, was another major challenge and casting in the Stavanger area lasted several months. “We did find those actors in the end,” notes Sæther. “That’s why the film works.”

At time of going to press, three of the actors had been nominated for Norway’s top film awards, the ‘Amandas’: Rolf Kristian Larson (Jarle) as Best Actor, Ida Elise Broch (Katrine) as Best Supporting Actress and Arthur Berning (Helge) as Best Supporting Actor. The film was in competition at the 2008 Nordic film Festival in Rouen, France and screened in July at the Karlovy Vary’s Forum of Independents section.

Stian Kristiansen - Director

Born in 1972, Kristiansen graduated from Norway’s National Film School in Lillehammer in 2006. Also trained as an actor at the Rogaland Theatre, Kristiansen had a few parts in films, such as Arild Ommundsen’s 'Mongoland' (2001). He directed the short films 'Adam and Eve', 'Blindsight', 'Kiss me, God damn It!', 'Bad Investment' and 'Hidden'. 'The Man Who Loved Yngve' is his first feature film.

Kristiansen is preparing another youth film – to be produced by Sæther - which will be a spin off of his short film 'Kiss Me God damn It!'

Tore Renberg - Scriptwriter

Born in 1972, Renberg had his breakthrough as a writer in 1995 with the short prose book ‘Sovende floke’, which gave him the Tarjej Vesaas’ Debut Award. He has since written the novels ’Matriarkat’ (1996), ’Renselse’ (1998), ’En god tid’ (2000), ’Mannen som elsket Yngve’ (2003), ’Kompani Orheim’ (2005) and ’Farmor har kabel tv’/’Videogutten’ (2006). He wrote his first feature film script 'Alt for Egil' ('This Is The Song You Need') in 2004, produced by Motlys. The third novel about Jarle Klepp, ‘Charlotte Isabel Hansen’, will be published in September 2008.

Yngve Sæther - Producer

Born in1964, Sæther has spent much of his youth at film societies and cinematheques. He has directed and produced several short films and music videos. He joined Motlys in 2001 as producer and head of development. He co-produced 'Folk flest bor i Kina' ('Utopia') in 2002, 'Alt for Egil' ('This Is The Song You Need') in 2004 and was head of development on Hans Petter Moland’s 'Comrade Pedersen' in 2006. 'The Man Who Loved Yngve' is his debut as feature film producer. Next on his production list is the adaptation of Tore Renberg’s ‘Kompani Orheim’, the second book based on the character Jarle Klepp. Sæther will also team up again with Kristiansen on a new youth film scripted by the filmmaker, and based on his short film 'Kiss me God damn it!' It will go into production in 2009.