re:mote voices

Title:Evil [Ondskan]
Cast: Andreas Wilson, Henrik Lundström, Gustaf Skarsgård, Linda Zilliacus, Jesper Salén
Director: Mikael Håfström

With the start of Evil we are introduced to Erik, going from him being beaten by his stepfather to him beating a fellow school pupil. This beating leads to Erik’s expulsion and the headmaster’s insistence that he has never seen such violence and that Erik is clearly “evil”. The result is that unless he can finish his school year somehow he’ll never get to go to college. To this end his mother does all she can to get him into a private school – the domain of the rich and upper classes. So Erik finds himself in a difficult position, he can’t get expelled again, but can’t allow himself to bullied and crushed by the brutal disciplinary system.

Thus we have a school drama, following the theme of good and evil. Is Erik evil, or can he learn restraint? Evil is a Swedish drama from last year, which I gather was nominated for the Oscar for Best Foreign Film. Although it isn’t made explicitly clear, the sense is that Evil is set in the 50’s or 60’s – the frame of reference particularly coming from the music and film that is referred to through the film.

At one point Erik talking to his roommate discuss James Dean. From which point it becomes clear – Erik has been cast as Dean, and we become conscious of his role as emulation. When faced with his dilemma his roommate suggests that Erik should follow in the footsteps of Ghandi. So we have an attempt to balance these aspects. Though on the whole, Evil is a pretty average film, filled with clichés from any number of previous school dramas. The progression is too obvious – the fact that he will clearly become involved with the only young member of the kitchen staff and that he will strike back eventually. Evil is watchable enough, and the character has a definite intensity, but as a film it is nothing special and too full of its own sense of drama and importance.