Till det som är vackert

Well, the script might raise some questions at some points but this doesn't really matter. The intensity, the power and credibility of Alicia Vikanders' performance in this movie blows away the story lines. The sober direction of the movie underlines her performance. One of the best performances I've seen in the last years.

The script is touching many subjects such as poverty, coming-to-age and gender issues, without digging deep in any of them. It is the acting which gives the depth of the emotion to this movie. When she is asked to dance in front of the conductor in a most humiliating way, the scene is so painful that the buildup to the climax feels almost logical emotionally. This is not about ethics, but during the movie, you get dragged into the wild emotions of Katarina. And this is to me the essence of the movie: a young wild women fighting her way through a very troubled life. I don't think the director intends to ask our approval or even sympathy, but wants us to take a journey on the emotional roller-coaster of Katarina, so brilliantly performed by Alicia Vikander. Simply breathtaking.