Several friends travel to Sweden to study as anthropologists a summer festival that is held every ninety years in the remote hometown of one of them. What begins as a dream vacation in a place where the sun never sets, gradually turns into a dark nightmare as the mysterious inhabitants invite them to participate in their disturbing festive activities.
Two Los Angeles homicide detectives are dispatched to a northern town where the sun doesn't set to investigate the methodical murder of a local teen.
Handlingen tar for seg et samarbeid mellom norsk og svensk politi hvor to etterforskere skal finne morderen som har tatt livet av en 17 år gamle jente i Tromsø. Etterforskningen går galt når Jonas Engstrøm ved et uhell dreper partneren sin. Erik Vik og prøver innstendig å dekke over det som har skjedd. Dette innebærer at han foretar stadig større moralske overskridelser. Som tittelen på filmen viser til sliter Jonas Engstrøm, blant annet fordi det er sommer i Nord-Norge og lyst hele døgnet, men også fordi han herjes av skyldfølelse. Denne søvnløsheten påvirker hans arbeid og mentale tilstand gjennom hele filmen.
The Midnight Sun Film Festival is held every June in the Finnish village of Sodankylä beyond the arctic circle — where the sun never sets. Founded by Aki and Mika Kaurismäki along with Anssi Mänttäri and Peter von Bagh in 1985, the festival has played host to an international who’s who of directors and each day begins with a two-hour discussion. To mark the festival’s silver anniversary, festival director Peter von Bagh edited together highlights from these dialogues to create an epic four-part choral history of cinema drawn from the anecdotes, insights, and wisdom of his all-star cast: Coppola, Fuller, Forman, Chabrol, Corman, Demy, Kieslowski, Kiarostami, Varda, Oliveira, Erice, Rouch, Gilliam, Jancso — and 64 more. Ranging across innumerable topics (war, censorship, movie stars, formative influences, America, neorealism) these voices, many now passed away, engage in a personal dialogue across the years that’s by turns charming, profound, hilarious and moving.
The Midnight Sun blurs the line between night and day. For part of the year, living close to the Arctic Circle means having more hours of the day to spend bonding with others. Though this, in combination with a lack of things to do, breeds creativity in some folks, others might arguably have too much time on their hands. The concept of status quo, i.e. nothing has changed, has seldom been more suitable.
American tourists explore Sweden by train