Cast

Elisabeth Mortensen, Bjørn Floberg, Per Sunderland, Bente Børsum, Svein Sturla Hungnes, Jan Ø. Wiig, Kjell Stormoen

awards

Chicago IFF 1984 – Silver Hugo

Film description

Paper Bird, a psychological thriller based on a novel by Norwegian writer Knut Faldbakken, involves an investigation into the mysterious suicide of the father of a young lawyer. The disconsolate daughter can't comprehend what pushed her father to take his life and his death constantly haunts her. Breien draws a complex, intimate picture of the heroine, showing the significance of father-daughter bonds. She references the Jungian formula, in which the father is a daughter’s leader in the spiritual, emotional and intellectual realms of life. He plays a vital role in striking the right balance between male and female elements, builds the sense of identity in a woman’s soul, having great impact on its crystallization. Breien exposes how the father’s suicidal drama puts his daughter’s soul on edge. Entangled in a net of speculation, clues and unanswered questions, she follows every trace to learn the reason for the tragedy. Seemingly distant initially, her external and internal worlds ultimately conjoin.