“The Sunlit Night” (2020): Living, Loving and Painting amidst an Oxymoron

There is roughly a two month stretch in late summer when the sun never fully sets on The Lofoten Islands of northern Norway. To visitors, this can be most disorienting.   As it was for Frances, the character brilliantly brought to life by Jenny Slate (excellent also in 2014’s underrecognized “Obvious Child”) in the enchanting new dramedy “The Sunlit Night”.

Jenny Slate inside the yellow barn of “The Sunlit Night”

I was particularly drawn to this unusual tale of a New York painter (Slate) who accepts a job assisting an iconic but fading Norwegian artist attempting to resuscitate his career by painting a barn yellow (I said it was unusual). My dear dad is Norwegian-born and has been to The Lofotens many times.

As Frances journeys through this Scandinavian Odyssey by the sea she encounters a tourist village of modern-day Vikings (Zach Galifianakis is hilarious as a horde leader), a nude portrait model she recruits from a local grocery store and a young guy/love interest in the throes of family turmoil. That’s a lot to process, no matter where you are. And it all manages to come together in a most delicious smorgasbord (I know, I know, that’s Swedish) of stunning scenery, simulated swordplay and self-discovery.

The only thing missing was the lutefisk.   But then again, to most not indigenous to “The Land of The Midnight Sun”, that’s a good thing.

Tuller Norge! Uff da!

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