The Real World Visby

The time is ripe again for the documentary phenomenon ''let's-pack-a-bunch-of-different -people- together-who-don't -know-each-other-get -the-video-camera-out -and-see-what-happens'' - Sweden's answer to MTV's The Real World is back with a new thrilling episode, this time from Visby on Gotland. Producer Nicke Johansson creates a sequel in this Gotland-version to his project with the same ''live drama'' idea which characterized The Real World Stockholm: Seven young Scandinavians from various backgrounds and with different interests were selected from the thousands of candidates to live together for three months. In these everyday surroundings, specially built in advance, the participants are expected to act freely and naturally, lifestyles are interwoven and the meeting of differing opinions and values creates conflict, friendship, laughter and tears. Everything under the watchful eyes and ears of cameramen and sound technicians. Trendy hairdresser Tina from Oslo owns fifty pairs of shoes and longs to meet her prince charming who may be Henning, a country lad from Varmland who has grown tired of life out in the wilds and wants to see the world. Elizabeth, the Chilean girl from Karlstad who has just finished high school, wonders what she has in common with Ulrika, an unemployed dance band freak and mother from Orebro. Ambitious business student Ken from Stockholm, complete with leather-trousers and motorbike, doesn't think it is going to be any problem; he gets on quite well with ex-offender Josef from Visby. Gorm however, a musician from Sollentuna, is skeptical. There is the occasional chance for a moments self-therapy in the ''confessional'' where the participants can speak out about the worst trials; a tempting opportunity which increases excitement with a potential resolution in the next episode. With cool music matching the fast editing and oblique and hand-held images, The Real World Visby is a sort of documentary laissez-faire drama somewhere between Beverly Hills and Z-TV, sponsored by Ikea. An ''experimental'' youthful report with a drop of soap. Judging from the interest and attention given to The Real World series, the programme's concept not only reflects young relationships and behaviour but also establishes the modem, increasing wish by young people to be seen and to be noticed. The ease with which you can identify with the characters' and concept's maintained balance between fiction and reality makes the ''real world'' of the future more and more difficult to define, maybe quite simply a question of multimedia interpretation? PC