Another week, another community to be featured in the OCD Community Boost Contest. This weeks spotlight taker, the Movies & TV Shows is a community I've both posted in and interacted with on several occasions. It's a great place to come to reflect and unload some thoughts after watching a movie or a TV show. Not only that but you can find some great recommendations as well. The crew is really good at engaging with their community and it's just a lovely place.
In Norway we have one movie that pretty much everyone has seen, no matter the age. It's a timeless classic that I personally will never get tired of. That movie is Flåklypa Grand Prix (known as Pinchcliffe Grand Prix abroad). It's a puppet film that's been around since 1975 and to this day it hasn't aged one bit. It ranks in the very top of Norwegian movies on IMDB and with good reason. (The top 3 has so few votes I choose to rule them out).
Flåklypa was made by Ivo Caprino. A name known in almost every Norwegian household for his work on puppet films. In this post I want to present his works with a bit of focus on Flåklypa Grand Prix. This is pure Norwegian film history.
What is Flåklypa
As mentioned Flåklypa Grand Prix is a 1975 puppet film classic. It was made by Ivo Caprino using stop-motion technology. The movie was an instant hit and it took the nation by storm. While there are no official numbers it is assumed that the movie has sold close to 5 million movie tickets in total. That's insane seeing as Norway currently has 5,4 million citizens. It's easily the most seen Norwegian film in history, inside our own borders at least.
The movie takes place in the made up village of Flåklypa where the race of the century is happening. Reodor Felgen, an inventor, has made blueprints for a super car called the Il Tempo Gigante. His dream is to one day be able to build this car. Luckily an oil sheik, Ben Redic Fy Fazan, is visiting the village and ends up sponsoring to build the car so Reodor, alongside his to assistants Solan and Ludvig, can participate in the race.
The Il Tempo Gigante has actually been built as a full size driveable car which is pretty cool. Complete with a registered license plate number matching the number from the movie. Sadly it's not certified to drive on roads, a decision that was battled all the way so supreme court.
The movie features a great load of humor and a lot of charm. The huge cast of characters is what makes the movie for me. Every character is original and has a lot of character. There's something to laugh about from every single character. If it's not in something they say there's some visual detail or something with their name. Each and every character has a punny name that I won't even bother to translate because the joke is lost in translation.
I personally love this movie and I watch it every year. If I miss it during the traditional re-run during Christmas I watch it by other means. I'll never tire of it and I laugh at the same jokes every year. I can recite the opening lines of the movie by heart. To me they're as well known as "In a hole in the ground there lived a Hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole...". You know where I'm going with this.
The movie also has a great score. Several of the melodies you'll often find any Norwegian humming as they go by their day. The most known title is Reodor's Ballad and I personally love the Opening Tune. Honestly, just do yourself a favor and check out the whole playlist.
Ivo Caprinos world
As mentioned Ivo Caprino is perhaps the most renowned Norwegian film maker and director. It's his beloved puppet films that has made him as big as he is. Most of his work is based on classic Norwegian folktales and even though most of his work is from the 50s through 70s his movies are still well represented in children's movie collections. Most likely through their parents influence.
Most of his work are short films and I used to watch them to death as a kid. I had a VHS tape with a collection of some of his films and I would watch it all the time. Even to this day I still have Flåklypa on both DVD and BluRay. I just can't leave it behind.
A character we often see in Caprinos work is Askeladden or the Ashlad as he's known as abroad. Perhaps Norway's most famous folktale characters and one that has even had success outside our borders. The character, or at least his name, was created by the Norwegian folktale collectors Asbjørnsen and Moe. Most well known Norwegian folktales originate from these two legends who traveled the country collecting them. Much like the Brothers Grimm did.
To end this post I'm embedding the trailer to Caprinos Fairytale World, a collection of his works so you can get an idea of his style. You probably won't understand any of the speech but you get to witness Norwegian film history nonetheless. Enjoy!