WEBVTT 00:00:01.000 --> 00:00:04.001 Medieoperatørene presents 00:00:06.077 --> 00:00:08.068 A film by Charlotte Thiis-Evensen 00:00:09.008 --> 00:00:11.000 Perhaps you could play that song you gave me? 00:00:11.000 --> 00:00:14.000 - Now? - Yes. 00:00:33.000 --> 00:00:38.001 St. Jørgen's Square 00:00:45.001 --> 00:00:49.000 (NEWS JINGLE) 00:00:52.004 --> 00:00:55.000 ...riots and general strike in Athens... 00:00:55.000 --> 00:00:58.008 ...good morning everyone... 00:00:58.008 --> 00:01:04.004 (MORNING RADIO SHOW JINGLE) 00:01:39.009 --> 00:01:45.001 Jørgen is head of the equipment storage at the NRK for the past ten years. 00:01:45.001 --> 00:01:50.000 I am going on a shoot today, but I forgot the memory cards for the P2-camera. 00:01:50.000 --> 00:01:54.005 - That’s not exactly my problem, is it? - No. 00:01:54.005 --> 00:01:58.002 - And then there's a collection afterwards. - I'll bring them back. 00:01:58.002 --> 00:02:03.009 You can have one, but there will be a collection afterwards, 00:02:03.009 --> 00:02:11.004 - A collection? - I'll hassle you with phonecalls. 00:02:11.004 --> 00:02:15.000 These cards are just trouble, really. 00:02:15.000 --> 00:02:20.005 You should shape up, not just make a muddle. Don't you agree? 00:02:20.005 --> 00:02:22.003 - Yes, yes... 00:02:22.007 --> 00:02:26.000 - An order has been placed? - Yes, but things take time. 00:02:26.000 --> 00:02:31.002 - Must nag, you know. - Can't nag. It takes time. 00:02:31.003 --> 00:02:35.000 They don’t work any faster down there. 00:02:35.000 --> 00:02:38.001 - In Germany? - Yes, they don't. 00:02:40.000 --> 00:02:44.000 The “I-must-have” people... then I get pissed off. 00:02:44.000 --> 00:02:49.000 They don’t get any particular service. 00:02:50.000 --> 00:02:53.000 - I need sound. - You'll need some mikes, then? 00:02:54.000 --> 00:02:58.006 All people are different, some people you like, some you don't 00:03:00.000 --> 00:03:04.000 Of course, I offer more serviceto people I like. 00:03:04.000 --> 00:03:10.007 Some people... I instantly pick up on a bad vibration. 00:03:13.001 --> 00:03:16.005 People are very self-absorbed here. 00:03:16.005 --> 00:03:21.002 No one thinks about the next man. 00:03:26.002 --> 00:03:31.002 "I need, I need..." 00:03:31.009 --> 00:03:34.009 - Haven't you completed the smile-program, Jørgen? 00:03:34.009 --> 00:03:37.004 No, I haven't. 00:03:37.004 --> 00:03:40.001 - Why should I? - Service course... 00:03:40.001 --> 00:03:43.000 - Should I run around smiling when you come then? - Yes. 00:03:43.004 --> 00:03:49.000 – Yeah, right. - You should. 00:03:49.000 --> 00:03:52.006 I'm not working for an airline, you know. 00:03:52.006 --> 00:03:55.001 You don’t have to come here, you know. 00:03:55.001 --> 00:03:58.000 You don’t have to come here. 00:03:58.000 --> 00:04:03.000 You can stay down in the News-department 00:04:03.000 --> 00:04:08.000 - That’s going out again tomorrow. - Have a nice day! 00:04:12.000 --> 00:04:14.006 "Chapter 23" 00:04:14.006 --> 00:04:20.000 "Establishing a power base through terror." 00:04:20.000 --> 00:04:25.000 "For the next ten years, Mao’s home was on the Yellow Earth Plateau in northwestern China," 00:04:25.000 --> 00:04:27.000 "near the Yellow River" 00:04:27.000 --> 00:04:30.000 "the next largest river in China after the Yangtze," 00:04:30.000 --> 00:04:34.000 "and the cradle of Chinese civilization." 00:04:34.000 --> 00:04:40.038 The Mao book, "The Unknown Mao" is a 78 hours long audio book. 00:04:40.038 --> 00:04:48.074 I listen to it at work now and then, but mostly when I go to bed at night, or after work. 00:04:48.074 --> 00:04:53.006 The book is very fascinating. How crazy it all was. 00:04:53.006 --> 00:04:58.052 "The advancing communist army took over all civil institutions" 00:04:58.052 --> 00:05:04.018 "recruiting young people with education, urban men and women, to fill the positions." 00:05:14.005 --> 00:05:19.001 I need a camera, I am going on a trip. 00:05:19.002 --> 00:05:25.008 It's not like a shop here, you know. "Need this, need that" 00:05:25.008 --> 00:05:28.063 - Can I get a camera then? - Where are you going? 00:05:28.063 --> 00:05:32.001 Somalia. Or no, I am going to Kenya. 00:05:32.001 --> 00:05:37.013 - Then you definitely won’t get one. It will get ruined. Sand and shit. 00:05:37.013 --> 00:05:44.066 I talked to Gunnar Grønlund, and we'll bring this air spray. 00:05:45.023 --> 00:05:51.048 I’m not that keen on it. It’s all the same to me where you are going. 00:05:51.048 --> 00:06:01.003 But I can’t go back to my boss and say I can’t go because I can’t get a camera. 00:06:01.003 --> 00:06:05.000 - Allright, do you need a tripod then? - A monopod and a small camera. 00:06:05.000 --> 00:06:10.000 - Can't you do without a camera stand? - Yeah, but the camera is heavy. 00:06:10.000 --> 00:06:15.002 You get one battery. To keep the program short. 00:06:17.005 --> 00:06:22.001 Good lord, this is like pulling teeth now. 00:06:22.001 --> 00:06:25.008 Now you owe me a cigarette. I had to stub mine. 00:06:25.008 --> 00:06:31.005 - I don’t smoke anymore. - Then you can buy me some duty-free. 00:06:31.005 --> 00:06:34.006 - Bye. Have a good trip. - Thanks! 00:06:44.000 --> 00:06:49.007 There's something wrong with power people. Communism and power is not the same. 00:06:49.007 --> 00:06:53.004 - But I’m not really a communist. - A little? 00:06:53.004 --> 00:06:56.008 No. Maybe... Aren't we all? 00:06:56.008 --> 00:06:59.007 Maybe. A hobby communist. 00:07:10.000 --> 00:07:14.000 "Chapter 14. The Long March, III." 00:07:14.000 --> 00:07:18.003 "When the two red armies joined forces in June, 1935," 00:07:18.003 --> 00:07:22.009 "Mao’s powerbase, the Central Red Army, was completely destroyed." 00:07:22.009 --> 00:07:27.004 "The long march started out with 80,000 soldiers" 00:07:27.004 --> 00:07:34.004 "Now it was reduced to around 10,000, on the verge of collapse." 00:07:36.000 --> 00:07:40.003 - Have you got it? - Just. 00:08:53.000 --> 00:08:57.000 Replace the transmitter. 00:08:57.000 --> 00:09:00.000 There. 00:09:00.000 --> 00:09:06.000 This drives me totally, completely crazy, really. 00:09:06.000 --> 00:09:10.003 Damn, where did it go? There, yes. 00:09:11.000 --> 00:09:15.007 Jørgen used to be one of NRK's best Lighting technicians. 00:09:15.007 --> 00:09:20.005 Before he became partially sighted. 00:09:20.008 --> 00:09:24.000 - Are things allright or what? - No. 00:09:24.000 --> 00:09:26.005 - No? - No. 00:09:26.005 --> 00:09:32.005 - It’s absolute hell. Everything is just a fog. - Really? 00:09:32.005 --> 00:09:37.002 I am barely able to make it to work. To find the way. 00:09:37.002 --> 00:09:40.005 I know from memory, but driving... 00:09:40.005 --> 00:09:44.008 But walking is not bad. I need some exercise. And I pass the beer-shop on the way. 00:09:45.000 --> 00:09:51.002 You drink red wine, right, I drink beer. Different tastes. 00:09:51.007 --> 00:09:54.005 Are you having a new operation now? 00:09:54.005 --> 00:09:57.003 I was at the hospital, then I was at the borderline. 00:09:57.003 --> 00:10:02.001 But the conclusion is, I can't be bothered anymore. It’s over. I can't. 00:10:02.001 --> 00:10:05.002 Clearly, it's game over if anything happens. 00:10:06.004 --> 00:10:11.007 - You would like a camera. - If you have one tucked away. 00:10:13.002 --> 00:10:14.098 I do. 00:10:15.000 --> 00:10:19.005 ... then there's Top 20, but does he need sound equipment? 00:10:19.005 --> 00:10:25.095 ...Isn't that just a kind of streaming thing? 00:10:25.095 --> 00:10:28.059 (mimicking a Northern dialect). - "You should be able to hold it then". 00:10:28.059 --> 00:10:31.013 "Otherwise you won't be able to film." 00:10:31.013 --> 00:10:36.006 - We’re talking about a monitor for... - Can you pull focus with this? 00:10:36.006 --> 00:10:42.001 - No... - Is it the same one that we used in the sound...? 00:10:42.001 --> 00:10:45.000 - Yes. - Then it won't work. 00:10:45.000 --> 00:10:49.087 Bad luck if someone cleans up around here when I’m on holiday. 00:10:50.009 --> 00:10:55.000 I wouldn’t find anything when I came back. 00:10:55.000 --> 00:10:59.036 - You have your own system? - It looks like a mess, but it isn't. 00:10:59.036 --> 00:11:04.004 I know where things are. When people ask me, I find it for them right away. 00:11:33.000 --> 00:11:36.000 I remember I was lighting Maria McKee for an interview 00:11:36.000 --> 00:11:40.004 I wanted to really go for it, with lots of lamps and soft lighting. 00:11:43.000 --> 00:11:46.000 She was pretty, and then I liked her in Lone Justice and other stuff. 00:11:55.000 --> 00:11:59.004 I was a bit anxious if she wanted so much lighting, it was really hot in there. 00:11:59.004 --> 00:12:03.000 It was an awesome, big lighting design, but... 00:12:03.000 --> 00:12:07.000 It’s fun to meet celebrities. I’m not that blasé. 00:12:07.000 --> 00:12:12.000 There is a hierarchy. The interviewer talks to them, the lighting people do the lighting. 00:12:12.000 --> 00:12:16.000 Lighting people don’t talk to celebrities. 00:12:23.000 --> 00:12:26.000 Hi, this is Jørgen. 00:12:26.000 --> 00:12:30.003 Huh? This is...? What? Ok. 00:12:35.000 --> 00:12:40.000 Which DV-camera, the whole set, or just the camera, or what? 00:12:40.000 --> 00:12:46.008 A lot of people have no idea what we do down here. It's just a warehouse. 00:12:46.008 --> 00:12:52.006 But without us, you couldn't make TV-programmes. 00:12:55.000 --> 00:13:01.000 Some come here just to talk. 00:13:01.000 --> 00:13:06.000 A daily routine to come down here to talk, and to have a smoke and... 00:13:06.000 --> 00:13:11.000 ...talk rubbish. People like it here. 00:13:11.000 --> 00:13:17.000 Some places in NRK no bosses know about. Important places. 00:13:17.000 --> 00:13:19.083 - Isn’t that quite nice? - Red wine and coke? 00:13:19.083 --> 00:13:24.010 - It’s refreshing in the summer. - I’ve never tried. I mix white wine and seltzer. 00:13:24.010 --> 00:13:26.057 Are you connected to the program-bank and such? 00:13:26.057 --> 00:13:30.003 I have managed to create a bit of an atmosphere here. 00:13:30.003 --> 00:13:35.080 Now there are chairs, people sit there... it's a gathering point. 00:13:42.000 --> 00:13:45.000 I was actually going to call it King Jørgen's Ramp. 00:13:45.000 --> 00:13:51.000 But my boss had made a sign with St. Jørgen's Square, so he beat me to it. 00:13:51.000 --> 00:13:54.000 So it is now called St. Jørgen's Square. 00:13:57.000 --> 00:14:01.072 It was presented to me on my 50th birthday. 00:14:07.000 --> 00:14:10.000 "He greatly enjoyed a poem from the sixth century called," 00:14:10.000 --> 00:14:12.000 “'The withered trees,'” 00:14:12.000 --> 00:14:16.000 "an elegy about a copse of unique trees" 00:14:16.000 --> 00:14:21.000 "ending their days dried-up and lifeless." 00:14:21.000 --> 00:14:25.000 "The poet Yo Xin attributed the trees' sad fate" 00:14:25.000 --> 00:14:30.000 "to the fact that they had been pulled up from the roots and transplanted." 00:14:50.000 --> 00:14:57.000 It was my... boyhood dream... A Harley Davidson Soft Tail custom. 00:14:57.000 --> 00:15:04.000 It's the closest one gets to the dream of “Easy Rider”. 00:15:08.000 --> 00:15:16.000 It is very difficult to describe that feeling of having wind in your face, and... 00:15:16.000 --> 00:15:19.000 ...air and smells, and... 00:15:19.000 --> 00:15:24.000 ...you sit outside, it’s a... 00:15:24.000 --> 00:15:28.000 ...it’s a bit..."top of the world" feeling in a way. 00:15:35.003 --> 00:15:36.066 (Private footage from 1994) 00:15:36.066 --> 00:15:39.008 You can accelerate on the uphill slopes 00:15:39.008 --> 00:15:42.086 and then you notice a kind of slow pull backwards. 00:15:42.086 --> 00:15:48.000 Then it’s kind of fun to sing “Born to be Wild” driving over the mountain. 00:15:48.000 --> 00:15:51.010 Just throttle it and head on. 00:15:59.000 --> 00:16:03.000 The best trip I had, I think was when I had been in Western-Norway for work. 00:16:03.000 --> 00:16:06.000 I had my bike and rode over Valdres plateau 00:16:06.000 --> 00:16:11.058 in fantastic weather, late summer. It was really warm. 00:16:13.065 --> 00:16:17.028 The mountains lay in the background and there was willowherb along the road 00:16:17.028 --> 00:16:25.090 and you could just stop and lie down along the river and sunbathe. 00:16:33.000 --> 00:16:37.000 "...also outside NRK. It is known that NRK wishes to free up about a hundred million kroner..." 00:16:37.000 --> 00:16:40.000 "...There has been much unrest about the plans for NRK’s future these past..." 00:16:40.000 --> 00:16:45.004 "...and that we, confronted with the rapid changes in media, need" 00:16:45.004 --> 00:16:48.000 "need to have greater economic flexibility..." 00:16:48.000 --> 00:16:53.000 "...today, we received word that NRK will cut 100 positions in the course of the year..." 00:16:55.000 --> 00:16:57.061 Perhaps you could play that song that you gave me? 00:16:57.061 --> 00:17:00.036 - Now? - Yes. 00:17:25.000 --> 00:17:27.000 It must be melodic. 00:17:27.000 --> 00:17:30.000 I am melancholic and often dream. 00:17:30.000 --> 00:17:35.000 I am not aggressive at all. I don’t have any violent genes at all. 00:17:35.000 --> 00:17:40.073 No, I am actually pretty kind. Maybe a little strange, and a little... individualistic. 00:17:45.000 --> 00:17:48.016 Music can only be played when you’re alone, otherwise it becomes annoying. 00:17:48.016 --> 00:17:51.000 No one has the same taste, so it must be played when you’re alone. 00:17:51.000 --> 00:17:55.044 But of course I am mostly on my own, so then you play it alone. 00:18:02.000 --> 00:18:05.000 I have become kind of melancholic over the years, a bit calmer. 00:18:05.000 --> 00:18:13.000 So I play more and more calm music. 00:18:13.000 --> 00:18:23.048 But when in a bad mood, it's better to play an intense song and just dance. 00:18:27.093 --> 00:18:31.000 I grew up with alternative clubs... so of course it's the solo dance. 00:18:31.000 --> 00:18:36.027 Doing the airguitar, and yeah, all that. 00:18:39.000 --> 00:18:45.074 What the hell should I use my head for if I can’t dream and fantasize? 00:18:46.015 --> 00:18:52.000 Actually, you haven’t been very much alone, have you? 00:18:54.041 --> 00:18:58.037 No, I have though, really... What the hell am I supposed to say to that, then? Alone... 00:18:58.037 --> 00:19:03.012 The last five years I have lived alone. 00:19:05.000 --> 00:19:11.000 From when I was 36 and until I was almost 50, I was in a long relationship. 00:19:11.000 --> 00:19:15.058 We had a good time together, and had fun together. 00:19:15.058 --> 00:19:20.027 Perhaps we were both just as strange, and individualistic. 00:19:20.027 --> 00:19:23.093 We slid away from each other, my sight became worse and worse. 00:19:23.093 --> 00:19:28.002 Our interests changed, both of ours... We rode bikes and she started sailing. 00:19:28.002 --> 00:19:31.000 We just slid away from each other. 00:19:32.094 --> 00:19:36.060 I can’t decide that other people should fancy me. Or fall in love with me. 00:19:36.060 --> 00:19:41.001 That is not something I can decide. Of course, I can fall in love. Theoretically. 00:19:41.001 --> 00:19:47.000 I am actually. 00:19:47.000 --> 00:19:51.000 But I don’t think it's realistic really. 00:19:51.000 --> 00:19:57.000 Hell, who wants to be together with a cripple? 00:19:57.000 --> 00:20:02.000 I am an old man and a cripple, right? 00:20:02.000 --> 00:20:06.000 No, I must admit that I don’t have any positive aspects right now, really. 00:20:06.000 --> 00:20:09.002 I have basically given up because of my sight 00:20:09.002 --> 00:20:13.000 and going home to hang around in the fog, and not see a damn shit. 00:20:13.000 --> 00:20:20.000 It's not often I laugh much anymore, or get very excited, really. 00:20:20.000 --> 00:20:26.075 If you are down of course you dream about having another person to lean on, or hold. 00:20:26.075 --> 00:20:35.000 Someone who thinks about me and takes... thinks about me. 00:20:36.095 --> 00:20:40.005 Not being completely alone here on earth. 00:20:40.005 --> 00:20:43.040 But that’s not something I can do anything about. 00:20:43.040 --> 00:20:50.000 But not at all costs. I can happily do it a bit... on the weekends and things. 00:20:50.000 --> 00:20:58.012 Not everyday, right? But to live alone all the time... 00:20:58.012 --> 00:21:02.019 No... (There's a knock on the door) 00:21:02.019 --> 00:21:07.074 There's this superior looking guy here. He is taking some batteries. 00:21:07.074 --> 00:21:10.048 - Who is it? - I’m Henrik. 00:21:10.048 --> 00:21:15.013 - What job is it for? - The Children's show. Our camera just eats batteries. 00:21:15.013 --> 00:21:19.086 - It's the DV-batteries? - Yes. Can I take three? 00:21:19.086 --> 00:21:23.017 - Yes. - Brilliant! 00:21:29.000 --> 00:21:33.090 Just check that I have brought the right ones. There should be one 305. 00:21:33.090 --> 00:21:37.053 - If it is the three... let’s see... - Three, zero, five. 00:21:37.053 --> 00:21:43.000 There are five of those, and then there is one 305 camera. 00:21:45.000 --> 00:21:48.092 Have you thought about what you would do if you didn’t work here? 00:21:48.092 --> 00:21:58.023 I have. Honestly, when I can’t handle it anymore, I’ll call it a day. 00:21:58.023 --> 00:22:03.025 - Call it a day? - When I don’t function anymore, I'll call it a day. 00:22:03.025 --> 00:22:07.046 That’s just how it is. It’s no loss for humanity that I die. 00:22:07.046 --> 00:22:11.003 It’s a loss for NRK, but not for humanity. 00:22:11.003 --> 00:22:12.087 So, it’s a loss for NRK? 00:22:12.088 --> 00:22:14.089 Oh yes. 00:22:14.089 --> 00:22:17.099 "Zhu De apologised to Zhang Guotao, who was an old friend" 00:22:18.000 --> 00:22:22.084 "and said that the army had been a giant, but now it was just a skeleton." 00:22:22.084 --> 00:22:25.037 "It can no longer fight." 00:22:25.037 --> 00:22:29.065 If you want to understand how crazy Mao actually was... 00:22:29.065 --> 00:22:32.098 ...of course, it is very difficult to know, to find out, isn’t it? 00:22:33.000 --> 00:22:36.000 "But Mao needed Jiang Ching at this turning point in his career." 00:22:36.000 --> 00:22:40.065 "She was, as she said herself, his most loyal lieutenant" 00:22:40.065 --> 00:22:45.035 "Because without Mao she was nothing." 00:23:08.000 --> 00:23:15.071 It’s OK to stand out as a character, during a long life at a workplace. 00:23:15.072 --> 00:23:22.000 Then at least people know... Then you haven’t been a grey mouse. 00:23:22.000 --> 00:23:25.014 No, that’s for sure. 00:23:25.014 --> 00:23:28.041 - But it sounds as if you like your job? - Yes, I do. 00:23:28.041 --> 00:23:32.062 Yes, I think it's totally ok, because I'm free here, really. 00:23:32.062 --> 00:23:35.073 I'm a free man... you have to be here from half eight to four... 00:23:35.073 --> 00:23:39.000 ...but then you are in a way free anyway, right? 00:23:39.000 --> 00:23:43.040 You can choose your own tempo throughout the day. 00:23:43.040 --> 00:23:47.098 That way it’s a pretty good workplace actually. It is. 00:23:48.000 --> 00:23:50.092 - Can you see me now? - No. 00:23:50.092 --> 00:23:54.000 No. You are a sort of gray, or a sort of black mass. 00:23:54.000 --> 00:23:59.040 You might look pretty, I don’t know, but it's possible. 00:24:00.057 --> 00:24:03.019 That’s straightforward. 00:24:03.019 --> 00:24:07.003 An advantage for you maybe? 00:24:15.068 --> 00:24:21.050 The equipment storage is to be moved, expanded and reorganized, for better efficiency. 00:24:21.050 --> 00:24:28.022 I’m very uncertain if I want to move. With my eyes I probably have no business being there. 00:24:28.022 --> 00:24:32.045 But time will tell.