Ninjababy
Babies can be a nuisance, but never more so than when they're an unexpected cartoon.
The most unusual feature of this Norwegian film is that it is a foreign language work which immediately prompts thoughts of a Hollywood movie from the past. However, Ninjababy is not a remake of the 1989 hit Look Who’s Talking but a second feature by Yngvild Sve Flikke which derives from a graphic novel by Inga H. Sætre who herself contributes to the screenplay. What we have here is a romantic comedy, but one in which the pregnant heroine is carrying a foetus which engages with her by talking provocatively - and that's why many filmgoers will be reminded of that earlier film in which Bruce Willis was heard as the voice of a new baby.
However, even if one thinks of Ninjababy as a kind of variation on a theme, it nevertheless has its own style as befits a film from Norway and for an hour or so it works beautifully. The heroine is 23-year-old Rakel (Kristine Kujath Thorp) who is something of a party girl and shares accommodation with her best friend, Ingrid (Tora Dietrichson). When she realises to her surprise that she is pregnant, she regards it as the unlikely consequence of what had been protected sex which she had enjoyed when having a one-night stand with an aikido instructor named Mos (Nader Khademi). Rakel had never planned for motherhood and, when informing Mos of what has happened, she makes clear her intent to abort which he approves. However, the situation is upturned when a medical examination shows that she had been pregnant for far longer than she had realised: this means that it would be illegal for her to have an abortion and furthermore it means that the father is not Mos but Dark Jesus (Arthur Berning). The latter is known for his sex appeal, but he is hardly a good candidate for fatherhood since he has a reputation as an alcoholic and a drug addict.
Such a tale could have been presented as a drama, but the music score by Kåre Christoffer Vestrheim tells us immediately that the tone will be relatively light even as the dialogue embraces a sexual frankness very much of today’s cinema. The humour first manifests itself in that way and then leads into the central conceit when the foetus begins to speak with the voice of Herman Tømmeraas. This aspect is portrayed visually through the use of drawings and animation and sometimes by imposing written words over the screen image. All this stylisation plays up the comedy to good effect but, cleverly, the underlying emotions are real enough to make us recognise an authenticity in the characters that is not lost despite the surface fantasies. This achievement is largely down to the perfect casting of all the main roles, but especially in the case of Kristine Kujath Thorp playing Rakel. It is her performance which ensures that, whatever the circumstances, Rakel remains an engaging heroine with whom we empathise.
However, just when Ninjababy looks set to succeed fully on its own terms, we reach the second half and here the piece seems to run out of steam. Until then it has developed a character of genuine originality, but at this point the comments by the foetus largely fade away yielding pride of place to a conventional romantic triangle. Mos confirms his feelings for Rakel which is believable enough, but then Dick Jesus has a most unlikely change of heart and turns up claiming that he has reconsidered and now wants to bring up his child himself. The film starts to become more serious even as it asks us to accept this volte face which is not only described in unconvincing terms but also ignores entirely what we have been told previously about his character. Ninjababy may ultimately refuse to follow through fully on the clichés it has introduced, but nothing can hide the fact that the first hour is far superior to what follows.
MANSEL STIMPSON
Cast: Kristine Kujath Thorp, Arthur Berning, Nader Khademi, Tora Dietrichson, Silya Nymoen, Mathias Kolstad Eriksen, Anita Gulliksen, Espen Leite, Kristian Mehlum Lie, and the voice of Herman Tømmeraas.
Dir Yngvild Sve Flikke, Pro Yngve Sæther, Screenplay Johan Fasting, Yngvild Sve Flikke and Inga H. Sætre, from the latter’s graphic novel Fallteknikk, Ph Marianne Bakke, Pro Des Tuva Hølmebakk, Ed Karen Gravås, Music Kåre Christoffer Vestrheim, Costumes Marianne Sembsmoen, Animation Inga H. Sætre.
Motlys-Curzon Artificial Eye.
103 mins. Norway. 2021. Rel: 10 September 2021. No Cert.