CIFF #6: Headhunters

Our final film ending a long day of sitting on our asses at the first Saturday of CIFF was "Headhunters". Headhunters is based on Norwegian best selling writer Jo Nesbø's novel Headhunters (original title Hodejegerne). This film was nothing short of AWESOME. I'm a big fan of spy-thrillers and this Norwegian beauty did not disappoint. It reminded me of a cross between one of the "Bourne's" (take your pick - all excellent) and Thomas Crowne Affair.

While at the film, we learned that this is yet another European film which will be remade in Hollywood for America (not a big fan of this practice, but if it brings the filmmaker some recognition so be it).

CIFF says:

HEADHUNTERS is a slick Norwegian phenomenon, a thriller not for the faint of heart. Based on the novel by Jo Nesbø, the biggest Scandinavian crime writer to hit U.S. shores since Stieg Larsson, this movie has been sold to an unprecedented 50 countries. Roger Brown (played by Aksel Hennie of “Max Manus”) is a meek but successful corporate recruitment specialist with a beautiful and expensive wife. Despite their membership in the Norwegian 1%, the couple is still hard up for cash. Roger gets into a little art theft on the side, using the information he culls from job candidates to rob them of their masterpieces. But when he tries to steal a Rubens from a suave Dane who turns out to be a former mercenary (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau of "Game of Thrones"), Roger meets his match. What starts off as a run-of-the-mill heist quickly escalates into a ferocious game of cat and mouse. See the original now; Hollywood has already snapped up the rights to a remake.

The trailer is narrated in English. Don't be mislead - we read the subtitles the whole way through. Enjoyable as long as you're not sitting in the first five rows of the theater. For this trailer, I recommend stretching it out fullscreen.