Fri os fra det onde

Une étude psychologique sur la collision entre deux classes sociales et deux univers culturels menant irréversiblement à une tragédie humaine collective. C’est un drame politiquement conscient, un thriller à suspense et une satire comique intelligente, le tout mis en scène de façon fraîche et imaginative, comme seuls les cinéastes européens les plus talentueux et ouverts d'esprit en sont capables. On est en présence d’une juxtaposition magistrale d'un récit riche en réflexions et de visuels épurés qui contribue à dépeindre les personnages et le décor avec autant de force que les dialogues et les acteurs. Allez voir dans la galerie la photo d'une femme et de son mari (ou, sur l’autre photo, d’elle et de ses enfants) qui se tiennent, apeurés, devant une porte. Tout y est, y compris Hitchcock. Une œuvre de choix ! (20/01/2012)

I don’t want to repeat what Rob Roy and Pishin have already said, but it’s impossible to speak about this film without referring to Straw Dogs and the beautiful cinematography. Straw Dogs is grittier, while this one plays more with the visuals, but the results are similar. Better stay away from villages. An hour and a half of undiluted redneckery, drunkenness and prejudice – power in the hands of “ordinary people”. Some parts of the story made me feel unwell. Besides the cinematography, I’d like to highlight the sound design. There’s a tense moments when the people on the screen are screaming their lungs out, but all you hear is the rustling of the woods instead of the screams themselves, and it’s very effective, perfect for that particular scene. I believe the director has good taste and a feeling for restraint. The local exploitation fans perhaps will complain about the moderation of the last action scene, but more would have been only for the worse, and I think Bornedal is aware of it. Brilliant and a great surprise from Denmark. 9/10 (12/04/2010)

There are several (unacknowledged) remakes of film classics every year, but this attempt will not get lost among them. Not only does it stand on its own, it is not even pointless, which was, is and will be the biggest curse of all remakes. (11/08/2012)

It's only been a few days since I wrote about Just Another Love Story, the previous work by Ole Bornedal, that it shouldn't have an ending and I would be satisfied. The second encounter with his work brought me the same experience. For three-quarters of the runtime, I was floating in the clouds of a highly outstanding spectacle, enjoying the excellent camera work, sensing the rising tension and alarming signals of an approaching crisis, appreciating the scenes of emotional impact like a thunder strike - and then everything went down the drain within a few minutes because the director pushed too hard and didn't understand the psychology of the crowd or the individual. As a result, the typical film construct is exposed. Undoubtedly, it is superbly shot, but at the same time, unreliable. From such material, much more could have been extracted if Bornedal had tamed his imagination, not chased too many rabbits at once, and fixed the logical gaps. The film notably resembles Peckinpah's Straw Dogs, and I wouldn't directly speak of plagiarism, but certainly of strong inspiration. However, that film seems more believable to me and more impactful in its consequences. Additionally, it lacks the strangely reconciliatory ending. Nonetheless, I have no problem with giving this film three strong stars. Overall impression: 65%. (20/03/2015)

This movie contains all variations on the word "weight". It's weighty, heavy, and cumbersome. The dialogue is probably the weakest thing in this film and the delivery of it, especially in the opening (over an hour) exposition is pretty much just heavy-handed. You can hear the obvious character sketching ("I'll happily piss up Connie Hedegard's ass if you tell me to, Lars") and one actor waiting for the other to finish his line so he can respond. Don't worry about running into hints of actor improvisation. The psychological transformation of the main character is so stilted and expressed by the mere striking of a crowbar on a bell. Bummer. But the depressing atmosphere of the whole film falls like a heavy blanket, and though I don't believe the ending, I was quite pleasantly surprised to find it both amoral and human, but most of all Nordic in its own way. Plus, the charming absence of any dynamism in scenes that could have squeezed a little of it out (the molotov, for example) has something to it. (08/03/2011)