I remember being forced to read this book in school a few years ago, and i remember how surprised i was at how good it actually was, and i must say this is a well done adaptation of the book, even though there are points where it chooses to go around the more easy way rather than spending time explaining it the hard way, but i guess that is often the case in adaptations, a book will always be more detailed, but i also must say i wouldn't have minded this movie being 30 mins longer and then more of the minor details had been explained.
But besides that this really is a good movie, the story itself is pretty well explained and the movie is paced enough for one not to get bored throughout the 2 hours the movie lasts, one thing i missed in the movie though is more focus on the romance between Marja and Erik, something that, again, is more explained in the book, it succeds half here, but it's a pretty good romance and i think the movie should have spend more time telling it, for me it somehow feels like the movie is trying to find a foot to stand on, like, sometimes it wants to be a brutal movie, sometimes it want to be moralizing, sometimes it want to be romantic and deephearted, and other times it wants to be an intelligent look into a person fighting himself, all of them succeds about 70%.
Now i think i'm going pretty hard on this movie considering to what i really thought about it, becuase i really did enjoy the movie, and i thought it was really good, and it should have taken the foreign oscar in my opinion, i think the strength of the movie is that it never becomes boring and uninteresting, the many different perspectives it focuses on is also a strength i think, even though none of them completes perfect it still keeps your curiousity towards aspects of the movie high, especially the romance in my case.
The acting in the movie is pretty decent, i don't feel anybody stands out, but all the leading actors does a pretty good job, which makes the movie spin around without awkward problems caused by the acting, it's good to see they still know how to make movies up there in sweden.
I think everybody who wants an enjoyable and entertaining film should enjoy this, the morale is there, but it doesn't work all the way through becuase there seem to be some lack of focus on it, it's not a movie that will be in your heart for weeks to come, but it'll run through your head and turn, it's a fast paced movie i think is worth checking out, i'm glad i did at least.
8/10
But besides that this really is a good movie, the story itself is pretty well explained and the movie is paced enough for one not to get bored throughout the 2 hours the movie lasts, one thing i missed in the movie though is more focus on the romance between Marja and Erik, something that, again, is more explained in the book, it succeds half here, but it's a pretty good romance and i think the movie should have spend more time telling it, for me it somehow feels like the movie is trying to find a foot to stand on, like, sometimes it wants to be a brutal movie, sometimes it want to be moralizing, sometimes it want to be romantic and deephearted, and other times it wants to be an intelligent look into a person fighting himself, all of them succeds about 70%.
Now i think i'm going pretty hard on this movie considering to what i really thought about it, becuase i really did enjoy the movie, and i thought it was really good, and it should have taken the foreign oscar in my opinion, i think the strength of the movie is that it never becomes boring and uninteresting, the many different perspectives it focuses on is also a strength i think, even though none of them completes perfect it still keeps your curiousity towards aspects of the movie high, especially the romance in my case.
The acting in the movie is pretty decent, i don't feel anybody stands out, but all the leading actors does a pretty good job, which makes the movie spin around without awkward problems caused by the acting, it's good to see they still know how to make movies up there in sweden.
I think everybody who wants an enjoyable and entertaining film should enjoy this, the morale is there, but it doesn't work all the way through becuase there seem to be some lack of focus on it, it's not a movie that will be in your heart for weeks to come, but it'll run through your head and turn, it's a fast paced movie i think is worth checking out, i'm glad i did at least.
8/10