Den osynlige

I was bored a night several weeks ago, when this movie turned up on a channel when I flicked by. I missed a little bit of the start, but something in it caught my attention. It had something in it worth continuing watching. Maybe it was the "odd" gangster (Tuva Novotny) in her hood? And am I glad I watched it until the end. The story is very beautiful, sad, heartbreaking and emotion-gripping at the same time. It is amazing what the performers and the directors created out of such a small budget.

The most amazing part in the movie for me, was still how cunningly you start having good feelings for the villain. Small, subtle changes and all of a sudden, you feel really sad for the "wrong" character.

All in all, a movie worth watching, even for those of you who don't like subtitles, since you can still feel the characters strongly through their voice tones and body language.

One feature that can make or break a movie is the director's ability bring the movie to life, while the other is the actors ability to portray the character in order to bring life to the movie.

This story is a mix of both emotion and drama and the greatest quality of any movie is how the director can effectively change the way you may see a character whereby one minute a character can be so hated and despised while the next you may feel a bit of sympathy for them, which in this case is the character Annalie played by Tuva Novotny.

Gustaf Skarsgard who plays Niklas is also another actor that also be respected and admired for his strong performance which really brings out the best in this movie.

This is the first and probably the only Swedish movie I have seen to date and it was a worth while experience, a highly recommended movie that I think everybody should see.

Of course a movie as good as this would spawn a US remake. I have not watched that one yet, but I can attest that this is really well made. Some viewers may have issues because morally speaking there is as lot to digest. Our lead/main character has issues, some self inflicted some laid upon him by others - though he does not deal with them the best way.

He is flawed is what I am trying to say. As is the supposed villain here - but how villainous is she? We even feel for her at times, seeing how she grew up, under what circumstances she lives under. It still is clear that she does things way wrong ... so wrong there may not be an inch of an excuse for her.

But the movie would not be as complex, if it just gave you black and white, right and wrong and however else you like to easily sort things. Things can be explained ... things can understood .. that does not make them one thing or another. As with life (and death) this is way more complex ... and better for it. Suspend your disbelief and be thrilled.

Niklas who soon will be graduating high school is a talented writer who dreams are truly fulfilled when he's invited to intend a interview in London where his writing aspirations can be realised, but his mum has no idea about. When his mum does finds out, Niklas is torn between either staying or leaving, but he finally goes with the latter. Walking home one night after a party he's set upon by a group thugs from his school, who heavily beat him up and leave him for dead in a ditch. The next morning he goes off to school on his supposedly last day, but what becomes clear is that no one can see him and he slowly learns that he's a ghost who can only watch on, as the authorities try to figure out what happen to him.

Ideas might be running short in Hollywood, but it's not the trend in this Swedish fantasy-drama that's powerfully moving without being overly wretched. Like fellow users have mentioned the strong aspect about this story is how the cards play out, especially that of certain characters. You can't help but feel sorry for those ones you think that you'll hate and vice versa. I've got to take my hat of to the young cast; Gustaf Skarsgard as the very promising Niklas and Tuva Novotny as the hard nosed delinquent Annelie are exceptionally good. The concept behind the story might not be new, but the cleverly defined presentation was definitely refreshing and it did put out many questions that folded out rather intriguingly and lead to some surprising advancements. It does start off like your glum (if basic) teen high school fare where you have your good and bad students, but then it breaks the mould when it heads into its fantasy territory, but still it does keep that raw edge. After the death of Niklas we follow (just like he does when he finds out he can't interfere) the police investigation of his disappearance and we see that of emotional developments; why certain people hide behind images they create and see people learning when its best to let go, which makes the whole experience even more depressingly, down trodden. Stuck in are some brutally violent and arrestingly intense moments that come from nowhere and give the story some biting attitude mixed in rather well with the wholesomely, heart-felt moments. The script is pretty serious with the odd dark joke here or there and a nice couple of surreal moments, but mostly its torn between sprawling out on the harrowing burden that these characters face. The production does feel like a TV movie but these glossy elements are silkily done with great verve in its direction and the films moves along in a rather snappy pace.

A emotionally, touching fantasy-drama that's beautifully implemented with excitingly, different results.

Being from Australia, not much news of Swedish films reach our shores. I had no idea about this one or the book it is based upon. I simply caught it while flicking the channels one day. It looked interesting, so I stuck with it, and I'm glad I did.

I absolutely adored this film. From the outset I found the main actor, Gustaf Skarsgard, very intriguing. I was surprised to find out this was his first major film role, he handled it perfectly. Never over the top, never underwhelming, just right.

I didn't pick the twist up in this film right away. I'm usually quick with those sorts of things, but it just didn't strike me that there would be a twist at all until it actually occurred. The feeling you get when it dawns just drums up the excitement and tempo of the film, when you suddenly realise that yes, there is something at stake here.

I also loved the very unHollywood ending. This film turned all those cliches about - characters you were meant to hate were ones you ended up feeling the most for, and the 'friend' who you usually feel sympathy for ends up doing nothing but drawing out your anger. It's rare that the real villian of a piece (especially a female one) becomes a sort of hero towards the end, and it can be confusing. But for me it worked well, and added real dimension to what would have otherwise just been a good film, not a great one.

The combination of great acting, real emotion and the eventual twist (or two) it what makes this movie so brilliant for me, and an instant favourite. Highly recommended.