''Wide Blue Yonder'' ( no, Wide Blue Yonder - Begravelse til besvær, also released as ''All at Sea'') is a 2010 Norwegian-British

black comedy Black comedy, also known as dark comedy, morbid humor, or gallows humor, is a style of comedy that makes light of subject matter that is generally considered taboo, particularly subjects that are normally considered serious or painful to discu ...

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super ...

about an old rogue sailor who breaks all the rules to fulfil an old friend's dying wish to be buried at sea. The film was directed by Robert Young from a screenplay written by Hugh Janes, adapted from his successful stage play. It stars Brian Cox, Lauren Bacall and

James Fox William Fox (born 19 May 1939), known professionally as James Fox, is an English actor. He appeared in several notable films of the 1960s and early 1970s, including '' King Rat'', '' The Servant'', ''Thoroughly Modern Millie'' and ''Performan ...

Plot

Two retired sailors, Wally and Skipper, are old workmates and best friends for 40 years now living at an old folks’ home in Norway. One day, Wally finds Skipper dead and he wants a burial at sea, the old-fashioned way, as he promised him. Wally isn't going to let the fact that he doesn't have a boat, any money or, for that matter, a body, stop him from keeping his word. He takes his friends May, George and Nina on a bold mission to send the coffin to the bottom of the North Sea. Ms. Reimark, the administrator of the local retirement community where Wally lives, has other plans for him and the deceased.

Cast

* Brian Cox as Wally * Lauren Bacall as May *

as George *

Hege Schøyen Hege Schøyen (born 22 May 1957, in Oslo) is a Norwegian singer, actor and comedian. She has played at the Oslo revue theatre Chat Noir and at Nationaltheatret. She was television presenter for the youth program series ''Midt i smørøyet'' at th ...

as Ms. Reimark * Ingrid Bolsø Berdal as Nina

Production

''Wide Blue Yonder'' was originally written for the theatre by UK playwright Hugh Janes and staged in London's West End with

Eric Sykes Eric Sykes (4 May 1923 – 4 July 2012) was an English radio, stage, television and film writer, comedian, actor, and director whose performing career spanned more than 50 years. He frequently wrote for and performed with many other leading com ...

as the lead.

Filming

The film was shot on locations in Haugesund,

Karmøy Karmøy is a municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. It is southwest of the town of Haugesund in the traditional district of Haugaland. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Kopervik. Most of the municipality lies on ...

and

Sveio Sveio is a municipality in Vestland county, Norway. Sveio is a border district that is sometimes considered to be located in the traditional district of Haugalandet since it is located on the Haugalandet peninsula, but it is also considered to ...

from 13 July to mid-August 2007. Problems with the film began during principal photography when UK producer John Cairns' Parkland Films and Norwegian producer Bjørg Veland's Euromax Productions were unable to pay their bills, including salary for cast and crew. They had raised only €2.4 million of the production's €6.4 million budget. Norwegian producer Bjarne Hareide was brought in to restructure the financing, but when filming wrapped, €1.6 million local costs were still uncovered. New investments were needed to finish the feature and the film was finally ready for a star-studded world premiere at the

Norwegian International Film Festival The Norwegian International Film Festival ( no, Den norske filmfestivalen) is a film festival held annually in Haugesund, Norway. The festival goes back to 1973. In 1985, the Amanda award was instituted. The Amanda is awarded every year at the fes ...

in 2010. However, it took another two years to clarify the rights, further complicated by the UK producer's bankruptcy.''Cineuropa'' - After five years, UK-Norwegian black comedy Wide Blue Yonder is set for release
retrieved April 30, 2017.

Release

''Wide Blue Yonder'' world premiered at the

in Haugesund on 19 August 2010 and was also screened at the

2011 Cannes Film Festival The 64th Cannes Film Festival was held from 11 to 22 May 2011. American actor Robert De Niro served as the president of the jury for the main competition and French filmmaker Michel Gondry headed the jury for the short film competition. South ...

in May 2011. Five years after its completed production, it was finally released in Norway on 25 May 2012 and saw a limited release in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

on 27 June 2014.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Wide Blue Yonder 2010 films 2010 comedy-drama films Norwegian comedy-drama films British comedy-drama films 2010s English-language films English-language Norwegian films British films based on plays Films shot in Norway Films set in Norway Films directed by Robert Young 2010s British films