The nameless lead, simply called "Him" (Trond Fausa Aurvaag) of Gone with the Woman is just your average guy. He's the quintessential bachelor, enjoying his space and delighting in the quirks of solitary male life. The harmony of his routine however, which is ironically displayed on his t-shirt, is quickly thrown out the window by the arrival of Marianne (Marian Saastad Ottesen). She just shows up, praising the wonder of silence, yet not understanding that in order to get it, she'd have to be quiet. But he doesn't tell her that, or anything for that matter. He just lets her visit more and more, slowly morphing his life into what she wants it to be.

Instead of communicating with Marianne, he joins the local pool and finds himself closely followed by a man named Glenn (Peter Stormare). Following the advice of Glenn, a number of other sweaty, sauna men, and the addled thoughts in his head, he decides to have sex with her, be there for her, and fall in love with her -- as if it is something you arbitrarily choose to do. But as you can imagine from a woman who chatters on endlessly about the wonders of silence, life with Marianne is anything but normal.

Norway has become (at least) the fourth country to announce its submission for the Best Foreign-Language Film category of the Academy Awards, after The Netherlands, Thailand and Austria. Variety reports that Gone With the Woman has been selected. It's a very timely announcement, since the film will have its international premiere at the Toronto Film Festival. Directed by Petter Næss, Gone With the Woman is described by the Norwegian Film Institute as "the story of He, a male who hasn't even got a name. And, without him fully grasping how it comes about, his life is invaded by a woman. From this point on, he struggles to tackle the situation; He could try to throw out the invader, or try to adjust to the circumstances. He opts for the second alternative, and decides to fall deeply in love."

Næss has made several comedies, including Elling, which was nominated as one of the five Best Foreign Language Films (the Oscar went to No Man's Land that year). Gone With the Woman is based on the debut novel by Erlend Loe. Trond Fausa Aurvaag stars as He; Marin Saastad Ottesen plays the woman who invades his home and takes over his life. The cast includes the great Peter Stormare (Fargo). The official site has a gallery of stills and a very slow-loading trailer. Once it loads, the trailer has a great twangy guitar on the soundtrack, though it's a bit hard to get a sense of the comedy without English subtitles. Judging by the poster, though, it looks like it may be a bit silly, but grounded in relationship hell. In other words: an ideal date movie! Public screenings for the film in Toronto start on Saturday, September 8.