ABSTRACT
Norwegian films have seldom attracted international praise or attention. Film production in Norway has been unstable, and continued often in spite of, rather than because of, economic and practical conditions. Certain Norwegian films have, however, enjoyed great domestic popularity. The first such group were the rural films from 1920 on. The popularity of these films can be partly explained by many of them having a classic, melodramatic structure but the group also contains vaudeville-inspired comedies. The common denominator of the rural films is their national character. This chapter suggests that the popularity of the films is to a certain extent related to the impact of the nation and will indicate that the national in the texts relates to changing notions of nationalism in the cultural history of Norway.
