A Great Film

We humans do dreadful things, Guantanamo, Rendition, Abu Ghraib, detention centres, 9/11, Syria, Rwanda, Sudan,the Biggest Loser...

What we adults do to kids is often particularly dreadful. We have seen it in this country with the transportation of kids from the UK in the post war years, child soldiers in the African continent and Sth America demonstrate this.

Marius Holst has made a terrific and disturbing movie based on real events in Norway called 'King of Devils Island'. Wayward boys are detained on a miserable island in a fjord off Oslo commanded over by 'the Governor', played chillingly by the marvelous Stellan Skarsgard and his gang of grotesques. We know he's on borrowed time the minute Erling (Benjamin Helstad) arrives on the island to do time for an unexplained murder. He sees the island is ripe for rebellion, it's only how and when. Soon enough (or maybe far too late for some) the fuse is lit and a set of events which divided Norway are set in train.

This is a fine film well told, beautifully shot (you will be reaching for your coat so chilling is the air, but you might also be fishing for your tissues in the same coat pocket) and oh so well acted. The baddies make your skin crawl and the characterizations by the 'boys' are so multi levelled they are a lesson to older, more experienced actors.

The story made my blood boil but the movie stunned me. Don't miss it!