He is behind films such as “Kongens no”, “Hawaii, Oslo” and soon “Quisling’s last days”. Now Erik Poppe has also directed the Prime Minister’s New Year’s speech. An unusual move, according to rhetoricians.
– I helped improve the way it was done, how it should look and how the speech could be expressed. I didn’t have much to do with the speech itself, but gave simple instructions during the recording, says Erik Poppe, one of Norway’s best-known directors.
– Jonas Gahr Støre is a very experienced communicator, but there are many ways to convey his message. Sometimes it works out, other times you miss. I saw that I could contribute here, explains the filmmaker.
Erik Poppe has not contributed to the Prime Minister’s New Year’s speech before, but helped the Prime Minister’s office with a video that was made in connection with the transition to the turn of the millennium 24 years ago.
Photo: NTB / NTB
– Wanted to renew the format
It was the Labor Party’s party office that paid for Poppe’s New Year’s speech direction. Neither Poppe nor the party office will say what the director was paid for the job.
– We wanted to renew the format for the New Year’s speech, and Erik Poppe helped us with that and with simple direction during the recording, writes Halvard Hølleland, state secretary for Jonas Gahr Støre at the Prime Minister’s office in an email to NRK.
State Secretary Halvard Hølleland (Ap) believes the New Year’s speech is the prime minister’s most important speech.
Photo: Ministry of Education / Ilja C. Hendel
The Prime Minister’s New Year’s speech has been given every year since Einar Gerhardsen (Ap) gave the first New Year’s speech on radio in 1946. Erik Poppe believes this year’s speech was more important than in a long time.
– The world is full of challenges, there is a lot of unrest among people and it was important that the speech was good and unifying, says the director.
Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre addresses the people.
Interesting thought, but…
It is not unusual that communication help is brought in in connection with the implementation of such a speech, say several rhetoricians NRK has been in contact with. But it is very unusual that forces like this are brought in, says rhetorician Andreas Birger Johansen.
– It is a very exciting idea to bring in someone who usually works with emotions and entertainment. Politics has a lot to learn here. But unfortunately I don’t think the speech got any better from this. Poppe is unable to bring out Støre’s feelings and it feels very similar to the previous year, says Johansen.
Rhetoric Andreas Birger Johansen thinks the idea of hiring a film director for a New Year’s speech is a good one. But is not excited about the implementation.
Photo: Eirik Evjen
However, Hølleland at the Prime Minister’s office is satisfied with the result:
– We think it was a good framework for conveying messages about people’s economic situation, the situation in Ukraine and the Middle East and climate change.
Not because of previous feedback
The prime minister got very variable feedbacks on the rhetoric and execution of another speech recently, namely a Christmas greeting that was posted on the government’s website at the beginning of December.
The speech caused giggles in several podcasts, including in “Tore and Harald’s podcast” and in the podcast “Stortingsrestauranten” with Conservative politicians Henrik Asheim, Tina Bru and Peter Frølich.
Hølleland denies that the Poppe move was made because of this feedback.
– No, Erik Poppe became involved in the work on the New Year’s speech in October.
Henrik Asheim, deputy leader of the Conservative Party and one of the presenters of the “Stortingsrestauranten” thinks it was wise to get help from a person like Erik Poppe for the New Year’s speech:
– Poppe is skilled, so it’s probably a good idea. Most of us are probably most concerned with what the Prime Minister himself wants to tell us.
– Could it be something for the Conservative Party to hire Joachim Trier, for example, for future speeches?
– Haha, no, then I think we should go “all in” on Quentin Tarantino or something like that, laughs Asheim.
Right-wing politician Henrik Asheim is one of three presenters in the podcast “Stortingsrestauranten”.
Photo: Karoline Johannessen Litland / NRK
Roll the dice?
Poppe himself is satisfied with the implementation.
– I think the speech was good.
– For those of you who are used to rolling the dice, which roll do you give it?
– I roll a five, me, says Poppe.
NRK has asked several times for an interview with Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre in connection with this, without success.
2024-01-22 05:50:41
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