Top 150 Most Anticipated Foreign Films of 2020: #73. The Middle Man – Bent Hamer
The Middle Man
2020 should see the premiere of Norwegian auteur Bent Hamer’s long-awaited eighth film The Middle Man, which will star actor/director Tuva Novotny and Pal Sverre Hagen. John Christian Rosenlund (who lensed Hamer’s last three features, not to mention 2015’s The Wave) serves as DP on the Norwegian-Canadian-German co-production. Hamer has become one of Norway’s most noted art-house auteurs, thanks partially to his programming at Cannes, where his 1995 debut Eggs played in Directors’ Fortnight, as did his 2005 English language debut Factotum. His 2007 title O’Horten played in Un Certain Regard at the Cannes Film Festival.
Gist: Based on a portion of the novel by Sluk by Lars Saabye Christensen, Hamer’s latest is a bizarre and absurd look at Trump’s USA through the eyes of a Midwestern “middle man,” a designated citizen in rural America who must deliver all the bad news to the denizens of a small town.
Release Date/Prediction: Production was scheduled for late 2019, which means we can look forward to seeing Hamer’s title in the fall festival circuit. TIFF is usually a platform where many of Hamer’s past titles have played (they premiered his last title, 2014’s 1001 Grams) and may snag him for a Platform competitor.
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