| A terrific, engaging film |
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| written by MKaliher |
April 9, 2008 - 2:55 PM PDT |
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5 out of 5 members found this review helpful
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When I screened this film, my first thought was, Who is the woman? She's absolutely gorgeous. (It's her face. I swear. Check out her brow, nose, and cheekbones; the cinematographer's framing of her profile with her lovely chin and neck.) But before I had a chance to obsess too much, Lena Headey had hooked me on the character of Kaisa and her story. And an intriguing, dysfunctional, yet perfectly believable story it is.
Most of us didn't grow up in families like those depicted on Father Knows Best, Leave it to Beaver, or Ozzie and Harriet; neither did Kaisa. Despite her apparent career success, she's difficult, behaves badly, is addicted to drugs--and, as her father comments, has a pair as big as an elephant's. We're talking testicles, folks, not breasts (thank goodness). But the exercise of dragging her drunkard father from his disgusting stupor back to her mother's (and his ex's) deathbed for a final reunion exposes some cracks in her façade of toughness.
It's simply this: he's the only father she ever had, and she's his only daughter. It turns out Kaisa's more complex than we first thought, as is Tomas--played brilliantly by Stellan Skarsgård, who you may have seen in the original Insomnia. Ian Hart, in a difficult and important supporting role, also turns out a great performance.
This is truly a terrific film, well crafted and well acted, and production qualities are great--from the casting and editing to the haunting music theme by Zbigniew Preisner. I came away from it feeling as if I'd spent an evening in a friendly tavern and heard a great story well told. Hans Petter Moland co-wrote the script with Kristin Amundsen, from a story by Lars Bill Lundholm, and also directed. Like American pulp novelist James Patterson, Moland is an advertising tycoon, and runs the biggest television ad agency in Scandinavia. This may explain why the film draws us in so quickly, and so persuasively--apart from Lena Headey's considerable skill. But, in Moland's case, it appears a background in propaganda hasn't diminished his ability to produce top-notch, innovative fictional work. We could use a few more ballsy films like Aberdeen. |
| Intelligent Character Study |
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| written by AShields |
January 22, 2005 - 2:29 PM PST |
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2 out of 3 members found this review helpful
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What a delightful film! Smart dialogue and very interesting characters combine to give an intelligent look at relationships between parents and their grown children.
The film has a slow overall pace but you never lose interest as the characters keep you hooked. For the shallow men out there (myself included) there's the added bonus of Lena Headey's breast - which get a surprising amount of screen time. For the masochists out there, there's a disturbingly long shot of Stellan Skarsgard's penis.
But for everyone else, there's a charming movie about the bonds of family. Highly recommended. |
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