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The Girl Who Kicked The Hornets’ Nest is the explosive final instalment of Stieg Larsson’s Millennium trilogy.
Under police guard in hospital, Lisbeth Salander (Noomi Rapace) is charged with murder and awaits the trial that has the country gripped. Cut off from all communication with the outside world, she must rely on journalist and former lover Mikael Blomkvist (Michael Nyqvist) to prove her innocence - and expose the political cover up that threatens to destroy her freedom. In his way stands a mysterious group who will go to any lengths to keep the shocking truth of their actions a secret.
Film: The Girl Who Kicked The Hornets’ Nest
Release date: 26th November 2010
Certificate: 15
Running time: 148 mins
Director: Daniel Alfredson
Starring: Michael Nyqvist, Noomi Rapace, Erika Berger, Annika Gannini, Malin Erikson
Genre: Crime/Drama/Thriller
Studio: Momentum
Format: Cinema
Country: Sweden/Denmark/Germany
Drama from Swedish writer-director Lukas Moodysson.
Successful couple Leo (Gael Garcia Bernal) and Ellen (Michelle Williams) lead busy lives and have little time to spend with their young daughter, Jackie (Sophie Nyweide), who is cared for by her Filipino nanny, Gloria (Marife Necesito).
When Leo goes to Thailand to do a business deal, Ellen becomes envious of Gloria because of her closeness to her Jackie. However, Gloria's own children miss her, and soon a tragedy sees her return to her home in Manila.
Meanwhile, Leo becomes involved with a working mother while in Thailand, and his actions have a dramatic effect on all those involved.
Film: Mammoth
Release date: 5th November 2010
Certificate: 15
Running time: 125 mins
Director: Lukas Moodysson
Starring: Gael Garcia Bernal, Michelle Williams, Marife Necesito, Sophie Nyweide, Thomas McCarthy
Genre: Drama
Studio: Soda
Format: Cinema
Country: Sweden/Denmark/Germany
Film: Not Like Others
Release date: 25th October 2010
Certificate: 18
Running time: 78 mins
Director: Peter Pontikis
Starring: Jenny Lampa, Ruth Vega Fernandez, David Dencik, Omid Khansari, Peter Järn
Genre: Drama/Horror/Thriller
Studio: Chelsea
Format: DVD
Country: Sweden
Thanks to the ridiculous success of the Twilight saga over the last few years, vampire movies are hot property. So hot in fact that it’s starting to become a worldwide obsession; Sweden’s Let The Right One In (2008) and South Korea’s Thirst (2009) being two notable examples – the former having already been remade by Hollywood, soon to be released. Naturally, distributors and producers want to flood the market with as many vampire movies as possible, which leads us to Not Like Others; a film made back in 2008 that has been given a wider release.
Not Like Others is the story of Vera (Jenny Lampa) and Vanja (Ruth Vega Fernandez), two vampire sisters ostracised by the normal world who live like outcasts on the fringes of society. Vera has learned to accept her fate, killing in the name of sustenance, but Vanja, a chronic depressive, is desperate to adapt despite the risk of being found out.
Wanting to enjoy some of the Stockholm nightlife, Vera drags Vanja along to a nightclub. Whilst Vanja mopes at the bar, the leader of a local, tattoo-sporting biker-gang propositions Vera on the dance floor. After several unwanted advances, Vera concedes and lures the man into one of the club’s toilet cubicles where she decides to feed on his haemorrhaging blood. Vanja gets her fill before they both promptly leave the club.
Upon discovering that their leader has been murdered, the gang are in hot pursuit, as Vera and Vanja run for their lives…
Made in the same year, set in the same city, tackling similar subject matter, and exhibiting a similar cold and detached iconography as the critically acclaimed Let The Right One In, Not Like Others certainly has its work cut out in terms of distancing itself from unwanted comparisons. The similarities listed at the start of this paragraph are hard to ignore, plus the fact that both films use vampirism as a metaphor for social inadequacy and acceptance. Having said that, Not Like Others manages to do its own thing, making it an intriguing, yet flawed companion piece.
Flashbacks interspersed throughout the ongoing chase take into account often overlooked details about the day-to-day realities of vampires living in a modern world: Vera and Vanja gate crashing a house party to plunder the coat room for money, as their destitute living arrangement and their inability to withstand sunlight puts neither of them in a good position to function in a conventional manner; i.e. through employment. Another flashback suggests Vanja’s reluctance to murder people for food – as it’s pointed out earlier that they’re unable to process normal foodstuffs – opting to loot a hospital for blood packs. However, despite the potential of being a rare gem in a subgenre of mostly lacklustre offerings, Not Like Others is unfortunately not as successful as it could’ve been.
The film quite wisely and refreshingly plays down on its vampire conceit, eschewing much of the usual dogma for an altogether realistic approach. There is absolutely no talk of crosses, silver or garlic; there is no superhuman speed or strength attributed to either Vera or Vanja. They don’t even have fangs, a controversial and bold move that further leans the film towards being a text about prejudice and existing outside the norm as opposed to a work of pure fancy. Vera carries a small knife in which to puncture the throats of her victims before feeding on the spilled contents. On the upside, this obliterates all opportunity for annoying and cliché open-mouthed-hissing-to-camera moments that plague almost every other vampire flick out there.
However, this minimalism represents a double edged sword, resulting in a woefully underwritten script and a plot that’s stretched so thin you’d be forgiven if you thought that there wasn’t one. Surprisingly, for a film that’s barely over seventy minutes in length, Not Like Others feels overlong and padded. Aside from the occasional flashback, the main story consists of Vera and Vanja running around the empty streets of Stockholm, and hiding out in underground tube stations with the occasional shot of a man on a motorcycle to remind you that they’re still being chased. There is a distinct lack of tension or even urgency, considering that the two girls will most likely be killed if they get caught which, for a film with a set up and all the pretensions of being a thriller, is rather damaging indeed.
Performances are adequate but nothing special. Lampa is perhaps the most at ease with the minimal material, partly because she is given the most to do, frequently leaving Vanja to lay low while she checks that it’s safe to move on. One such excursion sees her interacting with a taxi driver (David Denick), which makes for a truly bizarre centrepiece. The driver offers Vera a lift in his cab, which she accepts to avoid being caught by the biker in pursuit. When the driver realises that she has no money, he pulls over, makes a sexual advance on her, only to then change his mind. By way of apology, he decides to drive her to the destination of her choice, making friendly small talk along the way. When they arrive, he changes his mind and decides that sex would be nice, attempting to trap Vera in the car.
However, it is Vera and Vanja’s relationship that is the main focus here, but, apart from a couple of flashbacks, we never really find out that much about them. A shame, considering the potential depth of their sisterly bond made stronger through their shared circumstance. A scene that sees them screaming under a bridge as a train passes overhead offers a glimpse of happiness within their bleak and ostracised situation, but its too odd and fleeting a moment for it to truly strike a chord. And when the bikers start to close in on them, not only is it a predictable turn of events, but emotionally underwhelming as well.
Unfortunately, Not Like Others had great potential but ends up wanting. Its intriguing ideas and fresh take on the subgenre is severely undermined by a minimal and uneventful story that lacks the atmosphere, tension and empathy that was achieved in the similar and altogether superior Let The Right One In. A stronger plot and better developed characters could’ve turned this into a touching and unconventional essay on human loneliness, but instead we have is a textbook case of missed opportunity. On the bright side, purists can rest assured that it probably won’t get remade by Hollywood anytime soon. MP
It’s almost summer in Sweden and minor indiscretions and misbehaviour abound.
Leffe likes to show off for his friends and play salacious pranks, especially when he’s drinking. Meanwhile, a righteous grade-school teacher doesn’t know where to draw the line: she insists her fellow educators need a bit of instruction. Then there are two young teenage girls who like to pose for sexy photos and to party, but one night in a park, a complete stranger finds one of the girls passed out drunk.
A humorous look at lessons to learn, lectures to give and lines not to cross.
Film: Involuntary
Release date: 29th October 2010
Certificate: 15
Running time: 98 mins
Director: Ruben Östlund
Starring: Villmar Björkman, Linnea Cart-Lamy, Leif Edlund, Sara Eriksson, Lola Ewerlund
Genre: Comedy/Drama
Studio: Trinity
Format: Cinema
Country: Sweden
Film: Arn: The Knight Templar
Release date: 20th September 2010
Certificate: 15
Running time: 113 mins
Director: Peter Flinth
Starring: Joakim Nätterqvist, Sofia Helin, Stellan Skarsgård, Milind Soman, Simon Callow
Genre: Action/Adventure/Drama/Romance/War
Studio: High Fliers
Format: DVD & Blu-ray
Country: UK/Sweden/Denmark/Norway/Finland/Germany
Based on the first two volumes of Jan Guillou’s trilogy of novels, Arn: The Knight Templar is a grand epic atypical of contemporary Scandinavian cinema. Europe is stepping onto Hollywood’s playing field - how does it fare?
Arn Magnusson (Natterqvist) grows up in a monastery, where he is taught the ways of swordsmanship and archery by a former Knight Templar. A natural, he is pulled into the political jostling between his family and a clan that rivals them for the throne of the country that will one day become Sweden.
After being exposed as having had pre-marital relations with his fiancée Cecilia (Helin), Arn is punished by being sent off to fight in the Crusades with the Knights Templar; while Cecilia is sentenced to twenty years in a harsh convent.
On Crusade, Arn encounters the great Muslim warrior Saladin (Soman), in whom he sees a kindred spirit. This warrior’s bond with the Christians’ enemy unsettles the Knights around him, and casts a cloud of doubt over Arn’s fate.
Can the courageous Knight survive the Holy War, and return to rescue his beloved?
This is the most expensive motion picture of all-time in Scandinavia, and it shows. But while the scope is Hollywood-esque, the sensibility retains a welcome European flavour. The visuals may be grand, with every scene feeling genuinely epic, but Arn: The Knight Templar also offers a convincing depiction of medieval grime that lends it just as much authenticity as Ridley Scott’s two recent excursions to cinematic Middle Ages (Kingdom of Heaven, Robin Hood), without being as distractingly showy.
That is not to say that Danish director Flinth has offered a film that is ‘down and dirty’ or ‘grittily realistic’, as some viewers might expect of a film from the continent that is (mostly) subtitled. This is mass market, commercial filmmaking, telling a traditional, familiar story in widescreen, and with the sound turned way up. Every penny of the estimated $30 million budget is on the screen, and the level of this film’s sophistication makes one wonder where all the money goes on the glut of $100 million-plus efforts America churns out every summer.
Perhaps Hollywood can learn from this film’s production, in the way this film has clearly learned from American blockbusters of previous eras. For while it has an undeniably European tint, Arn: The Knight Templar feels distinctly ‘Hollywood’ in many ways - the lush cinematography, all wide lenses and careful composition; the script’s deliberate pacing and clear three-act structure; and the tame love scene accompanied by a sweeping orchestral score. Flinth thinks big and shoots big and, if the film from time to time unconsciously emulates the tics of ‘lesser’ commercial Hollywood (occasionally thin characterisation, plot signposting), this particular meshing of European and American sensibilities is most definitely a new and intriguing cinematic experience.
Story-wise, the film is a mixed bag. Well-shot, highly visceral action enlivens a plot that, while engrossing, does not offer much in the way of genuine surprise. This is only a problem in the film’s opening act - a flashback from its enthralling opening sequence, which establishes the respective fates of Arn and Cecilia. At around forty minutes, this flashback - which serves only to illustrate what the viewer has already figured out for themselves - is something of a patience-tester. But with the gorgeous visuals on show, and a cast on commanding form, the story soldiers through and comes to life once back in the ‘present day’. Indeed, the scenes of the Knights Templar debating their tactics delight with their ‘old-fashioned’ spirit and verve. Even better are the ‘head-to-head’ scenes with Arn and Saladin - kindred spirits bound by a code of honour both resolutely believe in. Natterqvist and Soman play these scenes utterly straight, but without obvious macho posturing - the effect is near-electric, and a viewer almost wishes the intervening scenes move quicker, to get to the next Arn-Saladin duologue.
Not all of the narrative moves as smoothly, however. Indeed, while the Crusades-scenes engross, the subplot featuring the plight of poor Cecilia, trapped in an abusive convent, is more predictable, and does not always sit comfortably with the grandeur of the battle-sequences. And there are persistent niggles - such as the near disappearance of the excellent Stellan Skarsgaard and Michael Nyqvist after the flashback sequence; or a sluggish middle twenty minutes where Arn’s primary motivation (to get back to Cecilia) sets him at odds with the war raging around him, the clash robbing the narrative of some momentum.
But, as with the best of ‘spectacle cinema’, the film rides out the rougher patches and consistently delivers solid, relatively undemanding entertainment that thrills and excites. It may well be that Europe gets the hang of blockbuster movie-making, and bigger and better ‘event’ movies follow this film. If it comes to pass, Arn: The Knight Templar deserves to be remembered and recognised as a big first stride towards that future.
A bit uneven, perhaps, but this is an ambitious and enthralling film - a glorious warning shot to American cinema that will hopefully be followed by more direct hits. Europe has stepped onto Hollywood’s playing field, and has scored. JN
Film: Videocracy
Release date: 27th September 2010
Certificate: E
Running time: 90 mins
Director: Erik Gandini
Starring: Silvio Berlusconi, Flavio Briatore, Fabio Calvi, Rick Canelli, Fabrizio Corona
Genre: Documentary
Studio: Dogwoof
Format: DVD
Country: Sweden/Denmark/UK/Finland
Italian president Silvio Berlusconi has built a media empire that allows him to control the output of ninety percent of the country’stelevision. However, instead of focusing on the man himself, Videocracy concentrates on the culture that his propagandist, sexually exploitative enterprise has created.
We follow the lives of people who have been seemingly corrupted by this fantasmatic world. There is obsessive TV fan Ricky Canelil, who openly admits that his desire to be on television has taken over his life, as well as Lele Mora, one of Italy’s top agents, and a man happy to admit that he is a ‘fan’ of fascist ideology. The film then begins to concentrate on the paparazzi ‘Robin Hood’, Fabrizi Corona, a man who insists that his snapping of celebrity hi-jinks is a form of punk rebellion.
But behind these men is the ever present Veline’s, the seemingly logical conclusion of female objectification. A group of women who are hired to stroll around TV studio’s in revealing outfits and are directly prohibited from speaking while on air…
During the opening of Gandini’s documentary it is genuinely difficult to tell if what we are watching is real or an elaborate prank. The characters seem so delusional; the sexism so pronounced that it is all too easy to assume that they are simply comedic caricature. To complicate further, Gandini, like Herzog in Grizzly Man, mixes found-footage with intricately staged, and impeccably detailed mise-en-scene, which does nothing but add to the surreal nature of what is being described. When Gandini’s film-crew are allowed into Berlusconi’s illustrious TV studios, the film becomes a carnival of disorientating angles, hideously bright colours and awkward framing. This otherworldliness is sharply contrasted with our chosen protagonists, who struggle to live in reality, when television offers them such tantalising perfection.
The difficulty is that over time the ‘un-reality’ of the situation becomes distancing. While the footage shot by Gandini is artfully constructed, this very construction distances the audience further from a story which is already hard to believe. This problem is not helped by a musical score that trades in sentimentalised bombast, or an editing style that seems as exploitative as any of Berlusconi’s out-put. Canelil’s dream of being a TV star is openly mocked, Mora comes across as being monstrous, and Berlusconi is portrayed as being nothing short of demonic. This extracts any humanity from the film, and soon it becomes a rather mechanical exercise in political posturing, and one that comes across as not just looking down on its subjects, but actively sneering at them.
It is in the portrayal of the Veline’s that the film is most successful. A camera stands completely still as hundreds of women audition, willing participants in their own objectification. The auditions quickly become a ritualistic form of sexual humiliation, the women grinding their hips directly towards the camera, and hence the audience. The image is mirrored when Fabrizi Corona stands completely naked in a shower while explaining, in voiceover, that to be famous you must be willing to become completely exposed. It is in moments like these, when the role of the audience is brought into question, that the film transcends it’s rather cold and judgemental filmic style, but these moments are few and far between.
What begins as a darkly comedic look at the camp nightmare of Italian television becomes something all the more nihilist. It portrays a country of delusional morons, run by an institutional evil, where women are condemned to objectification, and the men either work for the media or are on the outside looking in.
An interesting documentary that is marred by a simplistic and overtly judgemental morality. Gandini’s filmic style, while undeniable artful, is simply too distancing, a problem furthered by an over-the-top score and unlikeable protagonists. AC
Film: Fanny & Alexander
Release date: 16th November 2009
Certificate: 15
Running time: 180 mins
Director: Ingmar Bergman
Starring: Pernilla Allwin, Bertil Guve, Börje Ahlstedt, Allan Edwall, Ewa Fröling
Genre: Drama/Fantasy/Mystery
Studio: Palisades Tartan
Format: DVD
Country: Sweden/France/West Germany
Ingmar Bergman’s family epic won numerous awards on release, including Best Foreign Language Film, Best Cinematography and Best Costume Design at the Academy Awards (though Bergman lost out on the Best Director Oscar for the third time in his career, this time to James L. Brooks). The film is also effectively Bergman’s goodbye to the world of cinema (as other than work in TV, he never directed another major feature).
In Fanny & Alexander, we follow the lives of an aristocratic Swedish family of eccentric actors over the course of two tragic years.
It is Christmas 1907, and we are introduced to the family as they gather to celebrate the festive season. All characters in the family are instantly likeable, and all are facing problems in their lives. There’s the family matriarch, the widowed grandmother Helena (Gun Wållgren), who is coming to terms with the fact that her life has passed her by, that she is old and alone, despite the fact that her former lover, the Jewish merchant Isak (Erland Josephson), still loves her dearly. There’s also Uncle Gustav (Jarl Kulle), a sad old goat seeking the affections of a pretty young servant of the family, Maj (Pernilla Wallgren) and Uncle Carl (Börje Ahlstedt) who’s severely in debt.
The two characters referred to in the title are brother and sister: Alexander (Bertil Guve) is a 10-year-old with an active imagination, and Fanny (Pernilla Allwin) his younger sister. Their lives are changed forever when their father Oscar (Allan Edwall) dies suddenly and their mother Emelie (Ewa Fröling) remarries a tyrannical bishop (Jan Malmsjö). The siblings are torn from their loving family’s embrace and forced to live with Bishop Vergerus’s fanatically zealous family. Both children (but especially Alexander) have to grow up fast and come to terms with their new situation...
Fanny & Alexander is a visually magnificent film. Long shots take in every aspect of the Ekdahl’s beautifully luxurious family mansion, and Isak’s crowded, atmospheric and mysterious antiques shop. The striking contrast between seasons is also shown vividly through the scenery – from the comforting Dickensian winter evenings in a Swedish city to the sharp and crisp spring morning at the Bishop’s country house by a waterfall. This contrast is also evident in the presentation of the families – The Ekdahls are cheerful, warm and loving, and treat their servants as part of the family, whereas the Vergerus family are stern, cold and distant, their servants living in constant fear of the bishop.
In truth, Fanny & Alexander is a film of contrasts – youth and adulthood, life and death, good and evil, religion and atheism, luxury and frugality, kindness and cruelty. It’s a film about a boy approaching puberty who has to come to terms with the death of his father and a complete change in lifestyle and surroundings, in addition to everything else a boy has to face at that age. This is where one of the film’s greatest strengths lies – in the solid central performance of the young Bertil Guve, who sadly did not choose to pursue a career in acting after this, his film debut. He has no trouble in making us believe in Alexander’s plight, and really brings across how Alexander matures throughout the film – a scene where he attempts to stand up to the severe Bishop in defiance is an undeniable highlight.
The film has the feel of a stage production about it (fittingly, as the plot concerns a family of actors) and has the runtime to reflect it – at three hours long, you may need an interval or two! This is not a problem in the scenes directly concerning the exploits of the wacky family, but, at times, the film can drag – there are only so many rambling monologues and literary quotations anyone can take. It’s also hard to take some of the stranger happenings in the plot (admittedly, it’s easier not to take some of the more fantastical events completely literally, that is, unless you believe in Jewish magic!). As already mentioned, it is a film of contrasts, but the contrast between believable family situations and weird religious fantasy can be a little jarring at points.
Bergman’s final big hit is epic in every sense of the word – it’s a beautiful looking film full of sterling character performances and with the big ideas and runtime to match! You might find parts a little dragged out and preachy, and sometimes the fantasy element is taken a little too far, but that should not ruin your enjoyment of this family saga that is full to the brim with heart. SSP
Film: Patrik, Age 1.5
Release date: 23rd August 2010
Certificate: 15
Running time: 103 mins
Director: Ella Lemhagen
Starring: Gustaf Skarsgård, Torkel Petersson, Thomas Ljungman, Annika Hallin, Amanda Davin
Genre: Comedy/Drama
Studio: TLA
Format: DVD
Country: Sweden
A country notable for its tolerance of homosexuality, gay adoption has been legal in Sweden since 2002. Compared to the UK, where same-sex adoption was legalised in 2005, and Scotland, where the bill only passed in 2009, a film that explores the issue from a more established perspective deserves attention. Originally a play by Michael Druker, the film received a warm reception at LA’s Outfest in 2009. Following the media interest and Channel 4’s recent documentary about gay millionaires Barrie and Tony Drewitt-Barlow, who have three children through IVF and surrogacy, this is a timely release.
Göran and Sven Skoogh are a loving couple who have just moved into a neighbourhood so perfect it could have been designed by Ikea. Unfortunately, some of the residents also have readymade attitudes towards homosexuality. The couple do not allow this to faze them - they want a child to cement their relationship, and so the arduous process of adoption begins.
Göran is a GP and the soft-featured, nurturing type who makes the local housewives lament his sexual orientation. Meanwhile, Sven is a hard-headed, hard-drinking businessman with a Dolly Parton poster and a daughter from a previous marriage. When there is a clerical error and the couple are given responsibility for 15-year-old Patrik, a homophobic delinquent, their opposite approaches to people and parenting have mixed results from disastrous to heart-warming…
Patrick, Age 1.5 is as much a critique of attitudes towards same-sex adoption as it is of bureaucracy in Sweden - in fact, the latter is what provides some of the strongest punch lines of the film. Sven’s fury at the error of Social Services is compounded by a parking ticket; he reaches boiling point when the priggish police receptionist seems more interested in reminding him to stay outside the carefully measured perimeter around his bulletproof glass.
The same can be said for the head social worker when Göran decides he does want to adopt Patrik and not hold out for a baby. He replies, “You think we’re just giving out children?” when, due to their own incompetence and limited opening hours, the couple have been looking after Patrik for the best part of a week. Despite the liberal subject material, however, there is still room for a little good old-fashioned xenophobia - if they cannot have a Swedish child, they would happily adopt from any country, although “not from Denmark,” remarks Sven.
Badly behaved and misunderstood, Patrik may look typically Swedish with his Nordic looks, but his attitude is far from tolerant. He is quick to point out, with much bravado, that he once attacked a homosexual, and that he thinks Sven and Göran are paedophiles. Göran, someone apt to make the best of things, teaches Patrik how to say paedophile properly and discovers his unlikely talent for gardening. A mutual respect quickly grows between the two, threatening his relationship with Sven, who continues to behave with a fear of the unknown verging on the Neanderthal.
Ljungman commendably plays the part of an abrasive and overlooked teenager, a role that is by no means easy and often performed very poorly, but it is Gustaf Skarsgård as the winning Göran who carries the film. Many of the most poignant scenes that deal with attitudes towards homosexuality are tackled by him. For instance, his honest conversation with an inquisitive boy he is meant to be immunising is spoilt when the boy’s father stampedes in, furious that his son is being treated by a gay doctor. Or when one of his neighbours, who is openly cheating on his wife with a younger woman, remarks on how convenient it would be for Göran to have someone like Patrik around.
Patrik, Age 1.5 ably confronts the controversial subject of same-sex adoption. The film does not shy away from some of the more unpleasant assumptions held against the gay community, undermines preconceptions and underlines some of society’s double standards. This may be a tall order, but Patrik, Age 1.5 succeeds and yet remains a gentle, thoughtful and, at times, provocative comedy. What better way to celebrate the legalisation of same-sex adoption in Argentina? SR
Film: The Ape
Release date: 10th May 2010
Certificate: 15
Running time: 81 mins
Director: Jesper Ganslandt
Starring: Ollie Sarri, Francoise Joyce, Niclas Gillis
Genre: Drama/Thriller
Studio: ICA
Format: DVD
Country: Sweden
All things considered, The Ape is quite baffling – but only because we have become accustomed to dreadfully simplistic narratives and unrealistic dialogue. The Ape returns to a style of filmmaking that is out of favour currently.
Ollie Sarri is Kirster, a man who awakes confused and covered in blood. Sarri goes on to appear in every single frame of The Ape’s remaining 77 minutes, and starring alongside Sarri is an increasing sense of nausea, foreboding, pent up aggression, resignation and mental incapacity. Make no mistake, The Ape is a snapshot of a man losing (or already lost?) his grip on his marriage, his job, his sanity, and everything which connects him to his run of the mill existence…
This may at first glance appear familiar territory, The Ape is not the first film based upon the premise of following a character as they descend into a self-destructive hell. Where The Ape differs from most is that we are never shown the causes of Kirster’s distress, just as we are never shown any outrageous acts of violence. That isn’t to say the viewer doesn’t know exactly what has happened, of course, we do. The Ape never allows the viewer to sit back and comfortably sum up what is happening or has happened to Kirster because everything is only hinted at - it is entirely up to the viewers to cross the Ts and dot the Is. What we do get are glimpses of Kirster’s temper, or possible explanations for his obvious frustration, or hints at the possibility of violence that always seems to flicker behind his mournful, unblinking eyes.
The Ape is a complete success due in the main to fabulous direction and a possible career making performance. The direction is snappy without being fussy, and Jesper Ganslandt has placed his cameras right in front of the action. Not only is Ollie Sarri in every frame of the film, but at least half of the film seems to be shot close up to the actor's face. As the action unfolds, Kirster’s increasingly erratic behaviour is so unbelievably close to the screen that you can almost smell the manic fear and desperation.
There are so many standout scenes, and the tension is never allowed to drop for one second; watch in awe as Kirster explodes with pent up fury while instructing a learner driver. Feel queasy as a tennis practice match hints at the uncontrollable rage and longing which has built up inside this man in the midst of a break down. Three scenes, in particular, are so beautifully filmed and performed: a truly terrifying scene involving Kirster’s mother and a large kitchen knife will make anyone paying attention squirm; the scene toward the end of the film where Kirtser’s character bumps into an old friend is excruciatingly uncomfortable viewing, as we realize the character has now completely disconnected from reality and is unable to communicate in even the simplest of manners; and the final moments of the film are perfectly executed as the viewer is deliberately separated from Kirster, reflecting his own disconnection with the events around him.
The use of close up forces the viewer to share the anxiety of Kirster’s character, and coupled with the minimal dialogue, which is also almost entirely one-sided for the majority of the film, we not only see and feel everything Kirster is going through, we also share his emotions. The lack of music and the way the sound has been recorded places the viewer in the centre of Kirster’s world, and it is an unsettling experience.
Although not a true Dogme film, it shares many of the characteristics of Dogme, and is far more successful than even the much lauded Festen. The characters and settings are real, everything is entirely believable, and this snapshot of the violence and mania which can exist under the most normal of facades is a touch too close to reality. As Kirster’s mental capacity decays his ability to function normally also lessens, and the clever use of Kirster’s relationship with his mobile phone is a brilliant device, which illustrates the character's mindset perfectly. This truly is low-budget, minimalist cinema at it’s very best.
It is impossible to talk about The Ape without focusing on the performance of Ollie Sarri, displaying depth of emotion while maintaining an almost implacable expression. The pain, loss and desperation visible on Kirster’s blank face, the palpable sense of nausea and bewilderment, the sheer scale of his wrong doing are all on view, yet never once does the character become one dimensional. It would have been easy for Kirster to become an overwrought and overblown caricature, and in the hands of lesser actors that would have been the case. Sarri pulls off the seemingly impossible by never allowing Kirster to become a monster - he maintains the character as someone deserving of sympathy throughout.
The Ape is complex, emotive, expressive and arresting. It grabs your attention from the start and holds it unflinchingly until the final frame. It also leaves all the right questions unanswered. SM
Film: Let The Right One In
Release date: 3rd August 2009
Certificate: 15
Running time: 115 mins
Director: Tomas Alfredson
Starring: Kåre Hedebrant, Lina Leandersson, Per Ragnar, Henrik Dahl, Karin Bergquist
Genre: Horror/Drama/Romance
Studio: Momentum
Format: DVD
Country: Sweden
Written by John Ajvide Lindqvist, and based on his own novel of the same name, Let The Right One In tells the story of burgeoning love between a young recluse and a mysterious dark stranger - but this new acquaintance has a penchant for blood, and prefers the moonlight to the sunshine.
Unpopular and bullied in school, and lonely at home, Oskar, a 12-year-old outcast from a broken home in ‘80s Sweden, spends his time fantasising about the revenge he'll have against the bullies who torment him daily. When he meets the mysterious Eli one night, they form a friendship that becomes the one bright spot in his life.
All is not straightforward, though - despite being next door neighbours, they only meet at night, and spend as much time communicating through the walls via Morse code as they do face to face. It turns out Eli is also 12, but she's “been 12 for a long time."
What follows is a beautifully sculpted story of adolescent love, friendship and devotion. Of course, this is a ‘vampire movie’, so we see death, we see blood and (most intriguingly) we finally get to see why a vampire has to be invited in. The heart of this film is in its characters, though. Their relationship and growing importance to each other is so naturally illustrated that when Oskar’s reaction to Eli’s true nature is so easily accepted, you know this film has you in its thrall...
These two loners form a bond that reminds us of just how powerful and all consuming our first love is. Oskar is more curious than frightened by Eli’s revelations, and Eli seems happy to accommodate him. At its core is a story not of blood and guts but of how just one apparent ray of light in our lives can inspire us, and make life seem worth living - at any age.
The film is elevated further by the wonderfully fragile performances of its young leads. Oskar (played by Kåre Hedebrant), the frightened youth who wishes he was tough enough to look after himself, and Eli (Lina Leandersson), the immortal who still needs someone to look after her. The ‘someone’ in question, Hakan (played by Per Ragnar), providing some darkly comic relief.
There are some very memorable scenes. When Oskar, growing in confidence through his relationship with Eli (and a burgeoning weight training regime - some truths about adolescent boys are just universal, it seems) finally stands up to his tormentors, the consequences are both painful and heart stopping.
The film leaves questions to be answered, though. Eli is a 12-year-old immortal but Oskar IS a lonely 12-year-old boy, so hints of manipulation and subversion can’t be ignored. As odd as it may be to look for a sinister undercurrent in a vampire film, there are definitely hints of a darker motive not explicitly revealed to the viewer. Eli’s almost total reliance on her increasingly inept guardian, Hakan, and his obvious resignation to a life of service (not to mention his readiness to step through Death‘s door), points to a much more complex and cynical relationship than is first apparent.
The film is visually subdued, but with a quietly overpowering beauty. A lack of background noise means that whatever you hear - a heart beating, Morse code on the walls, Oskar breathing (or not) - is eerily pervasive. This muted, almost derelict, tone makes any explosion of violence in the film all the more powerful and affecting.
Most people would say the vampire sub-genre has pretty much run out of steam, but Let The Right One In reminds us that this is a classic movie monster for reasons beyond its obvious monstrosity. PD
