The Neighbour

Two neighbours. A lonely pianist on one side of the wall. A couple with domestic problems on the other. They can hear each other. This film – Rose d’Or award winner 2010 - is about man and woman, about single people, about the chance to start over again, about chances that are long gone. It is also a film about how music affects us, and how we affect music. In a big apartment in Frogner, Oslo, Norway, a couple argues and fights about being together. Boxes with separate belongings are already brought outside the flat. Their neighbour is a lonesome pianist, annoyed and bedeviled by the couple’s endless quarrels. He plays the piano, Leoš Janáček: “In the Mist”. The sound penetrates through the walls. Slowly the couple unconsciously succumbs to the influence of the music and ends up deciding to cease fighting and resolve their argument, and maybe unpack the boxes again. The engagements of internationally renowned choreographer Jo Strømgren range from classical companies like Vienna State Opera ballet, Ballet de l’Opera National du Rhin and the Norwegian National Ballet to contemporary ensembles such as Cedar Lake Dance Company, Göteborg Opera Ballet, Stadttheater Bern Ballett and the Cloud Gate Ensemble.