Kristoffer Borgli is a provocateur; with every movie, he wants to get under your skin. With that in mind, it’s certainly not surprising that backlash is mounting over the twist in his latest film, “The Drama” — although I wouldn’t read too much into it, given that it involves a crucial plot point.
Then there’s this, unrelated to the film: a resurfaced Norwegian magazine essay by Borgli is now going viral, and it could put a stop to a promising filmmaking career that’s just getting started in Hollywood.
Borgli has “The Drama” hitting theaters next week, but now online sleuths are sharing scans of a 2012 article from a Norwegian magazine, written by Borgli, in which he talks about a recent relationship he had with a teenage girl.
The op-ed describes Borgli’s involvement in a “May–December” romance with a girl about ten years younger — he was 27 and she was 16 — whom his friends believe is too young for him. Although he initially tries to end things, he becomes increasingly attached, partly influenced by films that normalize large age differences, such as “Ghost World” and especially “Manhattan,” which convinces him that his relationship might be “within bounds.”
Further along, Borgli is fascinated by her cultural awareness and maturity, and they spend an intense summer together reading, watching films, sharing music, and talking for hours, often in secrecy. Despite feeling intellectually equal, the relationship carries underlying moral tension because of their different life stages. When summer ends and ordinary routines return, he reflects on the contrast between them, concluding symbolically that she represents youth and possibility while he embodies age and distance — “She was May; I was December.”
Borgli’s words from fifteen years ago have sadly come back to bite him; THR is now reporting on this, and with that, other outlets have also picked up on the story.
THR says: “While the legal age of consent in Norway is 16, relationships between adults and teenagers remain socially contentious in the country, a tension Borgli grapples with in the essay.”
“The Drama” is coming hot off the heels of Borgli’s English-language debut, “Dream Scenario,” starring Nicolas Cage, which was a wonderful comedy that made good on the promise of his Cannes-debuted “Sick of Myself.” ”
Mukdeeprom is well known on the arthouse circuit for his work with Apichatpong Weerasethakul (“Memoria”), and he also shot three Guadagnino movies.