Portland authors present Norwegian film Dreams at the Tomorrow Theater
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“Empathy is not a word that is seen as very important right now, especially in the United States,” Norwegian film director Dag Johan Haugerud told The New York Times recently. "Important" is of course relative. Empathy, and particularly its potential to expand and enrich society, is what most critics have celebrated in Haugerud’s The Oslo Trilogy, which includes the films Love, Sex, and Dreams. Portland authors Jon Raymond, Lisa Wells, and Leni Zumas, all of whom have recently published books that hinge on inhabiting others’ perspectives, are hosting a screening of Dreams, the most recent US release (there is no order to the trilogy), Sunday, November 16, at the Tomorrow Theater (7pm, $25).
All three movies offer sensitive depictions of social and sexual taboos, often placing members of one societal group in situations associated with another: a straight woman cruising for men, a heterosexual man having a spur-of-the-moment affair with another man. In Dreams, a 17-year-old girl writes a book about her affair with her female teacher. Her family reacts with curiosity, wondering how much of the book is fantasy, and about its quality as a work of literature.
Despite its themes and boldface titles, Haugerud’s trilogy gives much more screen time to conversation than to sex. Writing in 4Columns, Melissa Anderson called the trio easily “the most voluble movies of the year” and praised the “dramatic and erotic pleasures of the well-orchestrated onscreen conversation.” Before the movie on Sunday, expect readings from Raymond (God and Sex), Wells (The Fire Passage), and Zumas (Wolf Bells) in addition to a well-orchestrated offscreen conversation. Despite relentless national narratives of alienation and subjugation, these three authors are clearly invested in the concerns of others. Haugerud is, too. However important empathy is perceived to be, he told the Times, “I think these values are very much what people are thinking about right now.”
More things to do this week
COMEDY Robby Hoffman
7PM THU, NOV 13 | TOMORROW THEATER, $45
If the idea of an hour-long “ask me anything” in the middle of a show strikes you as a cop-out, you haven’t been in the same room as Robby Hoffman. Depending which tabloids you read, you might know the hard-nosed comic as the spouse of onetime Bachelorette Gabby Windey or as Randi from the latest season of Hacks. Or you might know her as the badass powerhouse stand-up that she is all by herself. Crowd work is her thing, so good luck during the extended audience Q&A (she’s not mean, she’s just funnier than you). Hoffman will do a 30-minute stand-up set before tearing apart the audience and then introduce Spike Lee’s 1994 comic drama, Crooklyn.
VISUAL ARTS The History of Portland Concert Posters
5–8PM FRI, NOV 14 | MINT GALLERY RECORDS, FREE
The Mississippi Avenue record store and art gallery Mint Gallery Records is uniquely poised to host this archival show of Portland concert posters. Covering 1960 through 2024, the show comes from local aficionado Jason Blumklotz’s personal collection—gems pulled from the walls of places like Satyricon, La Luna, Memorial Coliseum, and X-Ray Café. Fingers crossed for some Dead Moon relics.
OPERA La Bohème
7:30PM SAT & FRI, NOV 15 & 21; 2PM SUN, NOV 23 | KELLER AUDITORIUM, $25+
Portland Opera is taking a short run through Giacomo Puccini’s iconic opera this weekend and next. Set in bohemian Paris of the 1830s, La Bohème follows a chance encounter between poet Rodolfo and seamstress Mimì that becomes a great and tragic love. One of the most popular operas performed today, La Bohème also famously served as the basis for the Broadway musical Rent. This full-company production includes the Portland Opera’s orchestra, chorus, and children’s chorus.
Elsewhere...
- Facts and fables of the legendary downtown club Satyricon. “Did Kurt and Courtney meet there? Maybe! Was it haunted? Probably! Was it shut down by a riot? Kind of!” writes Melissa Locker. (Portland Mercury)
- A Hillsboro artist who painted her MRI as a way of understanding her multiple sclerosis diagnosis, then did the same for 400 others. (OPB)
