“Utøya: July 22” 72 minutes, the result of a shocking one-shot shoot

Why the director chose a 72-minute one-cut long take

So what exactly was the 72-minute long run in "Utøya: July 22"?

It's not something that unnecessarily heightens the tension or stirs up a sense of urgency. By borrowing the perspective of the girl who was there that day, the approach is to examine every moment that happened to them, and to try to be as close to what they felt, what they witnessed, and the conversations they had. You could say that.

“Utøya: July 22” Copyright (c) 2018 Paradox 　

"I believe this is the only way to tell this story."

Eric Poppe, the director, said so.

He says, ``With conventional filmmaking methods, a sense of distance is inevitably created between the viewer and the image.'' That's why this film eliminates this distance by purposely not using traditional filmmaking techniques such as cuts, montages, cross-cutting, and soundtracks, so that (the audience) can look away from what they witnessed and experienced. "It created a situation where it was impossible." After removing as much technique and artificiality as possible, what remained was this one-cut method of ``capturing what happened in front of the camera as it happened.''

Also, out of consideration for the victims, their families, and those injured by this tragedy, director Poppe did not create a documentary that recreated the facts exactly. After conducting careful research and obtaining testimonies from young people, he decided to ``instead of making it into a documentary that could not be adapted, we thought that by intentionally making it into a fictional story, we would be able to paint a clearer picture of this incident.'' In that case, the main character, the young girl, could be said to be the amalgamation of all the young people's perspectives.

On this day, young people full of hope lost their lives one after another. What were they thinking and what kind of future did they envision? This work naturally highlights not only fear and despair, but also the human nature of each person, depicting how each person was a real human being and how they tried their best to live.

Director Poppe also said, ``I hope this film will give people an opportunity to reflect and discuss the incident,'' and I see that by removing distance and getting closer to people's perspectives, we can Perhaps we can inherit their memories, share what they felt, and renew our thoughts about the future. The one-shot shooting of this film is a quiet but extremely strong expression of the artist's determination to never forget these incidents and the victims, and to never repeat the tragedy.

Incidentally, Netflix has released `` 22nd July, '' directed by Paul Greengrass, which deals with the same subject matter. By comparing these works, you will be able to clearly see each artist's style and approach.

Text: USHIZU ATSUNOBU

Born in Nagasaki in 1977. When he was 3 years old, he saw ``Superman II'' with his father and became fascinated with movies. After The Graduate from Meiji University, he worked for a movie broadcasting channel and then became a movie writer. Currently, in addition to writing for Eiga.com, EYESCREAM, Real Sound Movie Club, etc., he also contributes to media press and theater programs.

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Watch now

"Utøya: July 22"

Director: Eric Poppe

Distribution: Tokyo Theater Provided by: Culture Publishers, Tokyo Theater

2018/Color/Vista/97 minutes

Official website: http://utoya-0722.com/

Copyright (c) 2018 Paradox

March 8, 2019 (Friday) Human Trust Cinema Yurakucho and other nationwide roadshows

*Information as of March 2019 article publication.