LA CHASSE

By : Erik Lochen

With : Benedikte Liseth, Rolf Soder, Tor Stokke, Olafr Havrevold
Norvège, 1959, 94 mn
zone 2, N&B,
10.00 €


Original title: JAKTEN
English title: THE CHASERS

Directed by Erik Lochen

With Benedikte Liseth, Rolf Soder, Tor Stokke, Olafr Havrevold
Norway, 1959, 94 mn
zone 2, B&W

Not available for sale now

Original Norwegian version with French subtitles
Digipack edition · Booklet with analyses

In a way this is a film about the ternal triangel - two men - one woman. Björn is married to Guri and Knut is their mutual friend. Knut is the younger, dominated by his strong friend. They leave for a hunting-trip in the autumn and the drama develops between them - they shall fight about Guri. This is not a melodrama - but a film about real people. The director himself has said that THE CHASERS is a study in retrospective technique and commentary. Past, present and future plays together - the time element is treated freely and gives the film much of its boldness. This film tires to demonstrate that just ordinary human beings may involve themselves in conflicts where even civilized peoople put the finger on the trigger.

Erich Löchen (b. 1924 - d. 1983) was a writer, director, editor and professional jazz musician. He started his career in film in the early fifties making documentary shorts. He was one of the co-founders of the production company ABC-Film A/S in 1950, and made most of his films (including commercial advertising films) through the company. Löchen made his feature film debut with the drama JAKTEN (THE CHASERS) in 1959. The film was heavily influenced by the narrative and dramaturgical theories of Bertolt Brecht, and was an unconventional and somewhat experimental film in the modernist vein, making Löchen a pioneer in Norwegian cinema history, and one of its true modernists. His second feature, MOTFORESTILLING (REMONTRANCE) from 1972 was an even more experimental film, with clear political undertones. Experimenting with non-linear storytelling, Löchen constructed the film so that, to challenge conventional storytelling, one could show each of the five separate acts of the film in any order, thereby presenting a film that could be viewed in 120 different ways - and as such also appear as 120 different films. The film has later been called a study in twisting of narrative levels and circular time. In addition to his own films, Löchen also wrote the screenplays for the films KNUT FORMO'S FINAL HUNT (1973) and FABEL (1980), both directed by his friend Jan Erik Döring. From 1981 until his passing in 1983 Löchen also served as artistic director for the national production company Norsk Film A/S.

Release on DVD: April the 2nd 2012
Release in theatres: January the 5th 2012


Watch a video excerpt :
La Chasse - Extrait