Film Reviews

Evil

• Rating:
• Director:
• Starring: Andreas Wilson
• Details: Sweden / 113 mins (15s).

Expelled from school for bullying, Henrik (Wilson) is sent to a boarding school where the student council metes out punishment for breaches of discipline. At the school he meets and befriends Pierre (Lundstrom), but Henrik's rebellious attitude brings him to the attention of the head of the student council, Otto (Skarsgard), who instigates a series of punishments designed to break Henrik's spirit. Set in 1950's Sweden, Evil takes its cue from Rebel Without a Cause, referencing the James Dean vehicle shortly after our hero arrives at boarding school. Rejected at home and beaten regularly by his step-father, Henrik seeks out an unorthodox family among his peers and tries to construct a life built on justice and fair play. Thwarted by the sadistic impulses of Otto and his fascist-lite cohorts (vestigial Nazism is alluded to on a number of occasions), Henrik finally explodes into violent action, only to realise that he can only beat the bullies if he adheres to the democratic principles of law, justice and equal rights that were to become the central planks in Sweden's brand of social democracy. Something of a brutal take on Dead Poets' Society, the Oscar-nominated Evil features strong performances and an involving story (based on a novel by Jan Guillou), while the lush setting and cinematographer Peter Mokrosinski's used of muted colours means it's beautiful to look at. On the downside, directorco-writer Hafstrom's relentless and clunky foreshadowing of future events begins to grate long before the ending arrives, and the ambiguous finale feels unnecessarily rushed.

Review by Declan Burke