Evil
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Andreas Wilson, Gustaf Skarsgård, Henrik Lundström, Jesper Salén, Linda ZilliacusBrand: Magnolia Pictures
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); Finnish (Original Language); Swedish (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.78:1
Running Time: 113 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2006-06-27
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Model: 10028
Studio: Magnolia
Product features:
- The Stj rsnberg Academy has a great reputation, but when Erik (Andreas Wilson) enrolls there after getting expelled from his previous high school he discovers an institution that is spiralling violently out of control. As the students inaugurate a reign of terror, Erik befriends his roommate, Pierre (Henrik Lundstr m), and tries to stay out of trouble. Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: ACTION/ADV
Movie Reviews of Evil
Movie Review: Compelling tale of brutality and transformation
Summary: 5 Stars
In 1857 Thomas Hughes published "Tom Brown's Schooldays", which despite the unassuming title (or the sunny illustration on the current edition's front cover) is actually a bitter indictment of the brutality that Hughes saw as rampant in the 19th century British public school system. Jan Guillou's 1981 autobiographical novel, "Ondskan" -- of which "Evil" is the film version -- takes on mid-1900s Swedish boarding schools in a similar way. As with their British counterparts, at the Swedish schools it was the boys themselves who enforced the rules. The upper-classmen would act as harsh disciplinarians for the students in the lower forms, while teachers and administrators saw their duty to be only what their job descriptions entailed: teaching and administering.
As a film version of Guillou's book, "Evil" is very accomplished indeed. The main character, Erik, is a bully who after regular beatings at home at the hand of his stepfather has come to take the same violent approach with his classmates. Due to constant fighting he is expelled from one high school after another, until finally it is left to his mother to sell off some of the family's prized possessions to pay for his tuition at an elite boarding school. This is the only school that will now accept him, and at a steep price. Knowing that the year at this school will be his last chance to graduate and move on to college, Erik is determined to get through it without another expulsion. At the same time he is also determined not to become victim to the traditional brutality that he soon discovers permeates the school. It is the tension between these two objectives that drives the story of "Evil".
The upper-classmen at his new boarding school quickly realize what they've got in Erik, and in response they continually raise the stakes in their obsession over making him submit. What results are scenes combining cruelty, brutality, and downright disgust (one episode involving a late-night visit by the upper-classmen to Erik's room is definitely not for the squeamish.) We also at times feel keen frustration at having to watch Erik put up with the various mistreatments, especially knowing that if he did fight back he could easily subdue any of these upper-classmen.
Lead actor Andreas Wilson's characterization of Erik is masterful, evoking the anger that drives him while also showing that as an individual he is far too complex to be dismissed as simply "evil". After the years of mistreatment by his stepfather (explaining not only the genesis of Erik's violent nature but his almost super-human ability to withstand pain), he has developed an unblinkingly tough facade, but as he begins to experience deep friendship and even romantic feelings for the first time, he gets in touch with his caring side as well. Erik is a boy of few words, giving Wilson relatively few lines of dialog and requiring him to evoke a great deal solely through facial expression and bodily aspect. Nonetheless, through Wilson we come to believe in Erik's gradual transformation -- his ultimate transcendance of his brutal homelife and the mistreatment at school. It is also worth noting that other characters are multi-dimensional as well. Not all of the teachers are blind and unfeeling to what is going on with the students, and Erik's worst tormenters show they are vulnerable in surprising ways. Even Erik's timid best friend/roommate proves to have an unexpectedly courageous side. A lesser film would not have strived for such nuance.
The resolution of the story is very satisfying, in part because when Erik finally does fight again (both at school and at home) it is out of considered necessity and not violent impulse. And, when he comes to achieve his ultimate victory at the very end, it is through perseverance, insight, and cleverness rather than violence at all.
The special features on the DVD include a featurette on the making of the movie, where we get to meet Guillou himself and learn more about how he came to write the original novel. We also hear from each of the featured actors and actresses and take in some behind-the-scenes production footage.
I should note that the blurb on the DVD cover ("It's Fight Club in a boarding school") is way off the mark. Did that critic see the same movie? Hopefully my synopsis gives a better sense of what the film is about.
Summary of Evil
EVIL - DVD MovieBased on the novel, Ondskan, by Swedish author Jan Guillou, Evil questions the very definition of the term by telling the story of Erik Ponti (Andreas Wilson), a high-schooler who confronts his violent past in order to overcome it. Directed by Mikael Håfström (Derailed), the film opens with Erik being expelled from high school for fighting, then being transferred to the militaristic academy, Stjärnsberg, as his last chance for graduation. Having been raised by a weak mother and an abusive stepfather, Erik's worldview is skewed by a sensitivity to injustice, so that when upper-classmen bully him and his best friend, Pierre Tanguy (Henrik Lundström), Erik is plagued by his desire to handle situations violently. Once Pierre teaches Erik about Gandhi, Erik quickly grasps the non-violent idea of mind over matter since he was forced to transcend physical pain as an abused child. However, when Erik does get his revenge on both his father and his schoolmates, his violence is justified. Evil sophisticatedly examines violence from the perspectives of its perpetrators and victims, showing how violence breeds violence. In learning how self-loathing begets violent behavior, protagonist Erik Ponti does much more than become a better person in the film. He becomes a living example of how an "evil" person can be multi-faceted, thus complicating an oversimplified concept of good versus evil. --Trinie Dalton
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