The 'O' in O' Horten stands for Odd, an apt first name for the titular character of this latest work of Bent Hamer, which proves to be another example of deadpan, offbeat whimsy. You may remember his Kitchen Stories that we showed in our 2004-2005 season.

Hamer, born in Sandefjord, Norway, south of Oslo was forced to study film in Sweden, as the first Norwegian film school didn't open until 12 years ago. "Now, we have a very healthy 25 films [produced] a year in Norway and we just have 5 million people."

Baard Owe plays Horten, a 67 year old train driver facing retirement who suddenly realises that fixed routes and timetables will no longer structure his daily life. It is the ensuing series of events that prevent the paralysis of newly found freedom, and opens his eyes to the need to ditch such overly rigorous habits.

O'Horten is beautifully shot, and wonderful to behold from the very beginning. It is a wondrous sight to experience the train tracks of Norway from Horten's perspective as he enters the uncertain darkness of tunnels only to emerge again in to the reassuring light of the snowy landscapes