Quick takes from the 60th London Film Festival, with public screenings from October 5th-16th, 2016.
Ma’ Rosa
From acclaimed Filipino director Brillante Mendoza comes an electrifying tale of enterprising Rosa (Jaclyn Jose), whose shanty of a shop in the slums of Manila resells candy from the supermarket and crystal meth from the local dealer, and the night her store is raided by police looking for their piece of the drug business. And so, from a back room at a police station, Rosa — who has been arrested along with her husband, Nestor (Julio Diaz), who’s a bit useless — negotiates with the cops over giving up her “ice” contact while her three eldest children (in their teens and early 20s) hustle around friends and family trying to raise the “bail” — ie, bribe — money that will secure their parents’ release. Shot like a documentary, handheld cameras and long, uncut takes lend an...
Ma’ Rosa
From acclaimed Filipino director Brillante Mendoza comes an electrifying tale of enterprising Rosa (Jaclyn Jose), whose shanty of a shop in the slums of Manila resells candy from the supermarket and crystal meth from the local dealer, and the night her store is raided by police looking for their piece of the drug business. And so, from a back room at a police station, Rosa — who has been arrested along with her husband, Nestor (Julio Diaz), who’s a bit useless — negotiates with the cops over giving up her “ice” contact while her three eldest children (in their teens and early 20s) hustle around friends and family trying to raise the “bail” — ie, bribe — money that will secure their parents’ release. Shot like a documentary, handheld cameras and long, uncut takes lend an...
- 9/29/2016
- by MaryAnn Johanson
- www.flickfilosopher.com
Going in with no expectations besides the recent news that the film had been shortlisted for Norway’s 2017 Oscar selection, director Erik Skjoldbjærg‘s Pyromaniac could not have delivered a better start. With extended camera movements capturing subtle detail from a car driving to an older woman’s look of panic inside the house as she searches for her husband with ominous words, “He’s here,” I was enraptured. Glass breaks and fire bursts out from door to hallway to living room at an extremely fast pace. The homeowners do escape, but she decides to go back for a photo book, only to discover her way out blocked. It’s a chilling scene: fire everywhere, hope erased.
Unfortunately, the film never really matches this level of intensity once it travels back in time three weeks to show nineteen-year old Dag (Trond Nilssen) playing with matches in the forest. We’re suddenly at his house,...
Unfortunately, the film never really matches this level of intensity once it travels back in time three weeks to show nineteen-year old Dag (Trond Nilssen) playing with matches in the forest. We’re suddenly at his house,...
- 9/9/2016
- by Jared Mobarak
- The Film Stage
Pyromaniac
Director: Erik Skjoldbjaerg
Writer: Bjorn Olaf Johannssen
Norwegian director Erik Skjoldbjaerg is still best known for his 1997 thriller Insomnia, which was later remade by Christopher Nolan in 2002. The title arrived well before the modern movement (or craze) for Nordic Noir, which explains why he never quite benefitted from the success (as say, Morten Tyldum did). Following a maligned English language debut with 2001’s Prozac Nation, Skjoldbjaerg has been regularly turning out dramatic features, including 2013’s Pioneer. He’s ready with his sixth feature, Pyromaniac, which deals with an arsonist terrorizing a small community and the policeman who discovers the culprit is one of the town’s firemen. Among the cast members is the excellent Agnes Kittelsen from Anne Sewitsky’s Happy, Happy (2010).
Cast: Agnes Kittelsen, Henrik Rafaelson, Trond Nilssen
Production Co.: Pravda Film, Bleck Film & TV, Glor Film As
U.S. Distributor: Rights available Tbd (domestic/international)
Release...
Director: Erik Skjoldbjaerg
Writer: Bjorn Olaf Johannssen
Norwegian director Erik Skjoldbjaerg is still best known for his 1997 thriller Insomnia, which was later remade by Christopher Nolan in 2002. The title arrived well before the modern movement (or craze) for Nordic Noir, which explains why he never quite benefitted from the success (as say, Morten Tyldum did). Following a maligned English language debut with 2001’s Prozac Nation, Skjoldbjaerg has been regularly turning out dramatic features, including 2013’s Pioneer. He’s ready with his sixth feature, Pyromaniac, which deals with an arsonist terrorizing a small community and the policeman who discovers the culprit is one of the town’s firemen. Among the cast members is the excellent Agnes Kittelsen from Anne Sewitsky’s Happy, Happy (2010).
Cast: Agnes Kittelsen, Henrik Rafaelson, Trond Nilssen
Production Co.: Pravda Film, Bleck Film & TV, Glor Film As
U.S. Distributor: Rights available Tbd (domestic/international)
Release...
- 1/8/2016
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
★★★★☆ Set in the early 20th century on the Norwegian island of Bastoy, a penal colony for young offenders, Marius Holst's hugely absorbing King of Devil's Island (2010) explores themes such as authority, responsibility and friendship. After aggressive, foolhardy inmate (Benjamin Helstad) arrives on the island, disgruntlement begins to brew amongst the child prisoner inhabitants. Meanwhile, another child (Trond Nilssen), who has curried favour with the strict but occasionally sympathetic governor (Stellan Skarsgård), is only a handful of weeks away from release; he dreams of a return to normality having spent almost half of his life on the island.
Read more »...
Read more »...
- 11/5/2012
- by CineVue UK
- CineVue
King of Devil’s Island, the Scandinavian thriller by Norwegian director Marius Holst, is being released in the UK on 29th June by Arrow Films. Winner of Best Film and Best Supporting Actor (Trond Nilssen) at the Norwegian International Film Festival (2011) and Best Feature Film at Lübeck Nordic Film Days (2011), King of Devil’s Island depicts the violent uprising of a group of young boys against their oppressive guardians. Starring Stellan Skarsgård (Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Mamma Mia, Angels and Demons, Pirates of the Caribbean, Good Will Hunting), Kirstoffer Joner (Shooting Star), and rising talents Benjamin Helstad (Body Troopers, Angel) and Trond Nilssen, this is a story of hope and friendship in the face of great hardship.
Based on a true story King of Devil’s Island tells the unsettling tale of a group of young delinquents banished to the remote prison of Bastøy. Under the guise of rehabilitation...
Based on a true story King of Devil’s Island tells the unsettling tale of a group of young delinquents banished to the remote prison of Bastøy. Under the guise of rehabilitation...
- 6/28/2012
- by Guest
- Nerdly
Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
The interplay between beautiful and sinister imagery defines much of Marius Holst’s haunting Norwegian prison drama King of Devil’s Island. The bleakly perplexing visage of a harpooned whale dying alongside the arrival of two boys into a brutal prison system generates a stirring metaphor that grows only stronger over the film’s course.
Based on the actual 1915 uprising of Norway’s Bastøy Island, we meet new inmates Erling (Benjamin Helstad) and Ivar (Magnus Langlete) as they are initiated by being paraded around naked in front of their fellow prisoners. It creates an antagonistic atmosphere from the outset, one neither governed nor reprimanded by the prison’s ambiguous director, Bestyreren (Stellan Skarsgård). Violent confrontations are evidently endemic to the environment, no different from the majority of prisons worldwide. Disturbingly, those in positions of power, such as caretaker Brathen (Kristoffer Joner), order senior inmates to administer...
The interplay between beautiful and sinister imagery defines much of Marius Holst’s haunting Norwegian prison drama King of Devil’s Island. The bleakly perplexing visage of a harpooned whale dying alongside the arrival of two boys into a brutal prison system generates a stirring metaphor that grows only stronger over the film’s course.
Based on the actual 1915 uprising of Norway’s Bastøy Island, we meet new inmates Erling (Benjamin Helstad) and Ivar (Magnus Langlete) as they are initiated by being paraded around naked in front of their fellow prisoners. It creates an antagonistic atmosphere from the outset, one neither governed nor reprimanded by the prison’s ambiguous director, Bestyreren (Stellan Skarsgård). Violent confrontations are evidently endemic to the environment, no different from the majority of prisons worldwide. Disturbingly, those in positions of power, such as caretaker Brathen (Kristoffer Joner), order senior inmates to administer...
- 6/28/2012
- by Shaun Munro
- Obsessed with Film
King Of Devil’S Island
Review by LondonFilmFan
Stars: Stellan Skarsgård, Benjamin Helstad, Kristoffer Joner, Trond Nilssen, Morten Løvstad, Daniel Berg | Written by Dennis Magnusson, Eric Schmid | Directed by Marius Holst
Norwegian thriller King of Devil’s Island tells the true story of the country’s Bastøy Island, once utilised as a “home” for maladjusted young men. Directed by Marius Holst, the correctional institution’s harsh conditions are the focus of the film that depicts the level of brutality and oppression that pushed many to their breaking points. Perpetually bleak, but buoyed by stirring and strong performances from its predominately youthful cast, King of Devil’s Island is yet another solid Scandinavian import to hit the UK over the past few years.
Carrying the film is Benjamin Helstad as the rebellious Erling, or C-19 as he is branded by the institution. Little is revealed about Erling’s past as King...
Review by LondonFilmFan
Stars: Stellan Skarsgård, Benjamin Helstad, Kristoffer Joner, Trond Nilssen, Morten Løvstad, Daniel Berg | Written by Dennis Magnusson, Eric Schmid | Directed by Marius Holst
Norwegian thriller King of Devil’s Island tells the true story of the country’s Bastøy Island, once utilised as a “home” for maladjusted young men. Directed by Marius Holst, the correctional institution’s harsh conditions are the focus of the film that depicts the level of brutality and oppression that pushed many to their breaking points. Perpetually bleak, but buoyed by stirring and strong performances from its predominately youthful cast, King of Devil’s Island is yet another solid Scandinavian import to hit the UK over the past few years.
Carrying the film is Benjamin Helstad as the rebellious Erling, or C-19 as he is branded by the institution. Little is revealed about Erling’s past as King...
- 6/26/2012
- by Guest
- Nerdly
After playing a scientist trying to unlock the secrets of the Tesseract device in Marvel's Avengers Assemble, the Swedish actor Stellan Skarsgard will next be on the big screen in King of Devil's Island.
The Scandinavian thriller is released in the UK by Arrow Films on June 29, 2012.
Winner of Best Film and Best Supporting Actor (Trond Nilssen) at the Norwegian International Film Festival 2011 and Best Feature Film at Lübeck Nordic Film Days 2011, King of Devil's Island depicts the violent uprising of a group of young boys against their oppressive guardians.
Also in the cast are Kirstoffer Joner (Shooting Star) and rising talents Benjamin Helstad (Body Troopers, Angel) and Trond Nilssen.
The film is described as a story of hope and friendship in the face of great hardship.
Based on a true story, King of Devil's Island tells the unsettling tale of a group of young delinquents banished to the remote prison of Bastøy.
The Scandinavian thriller is released in the UK by Arrow Films on June 29, 2012.
Winner of Best Film and Best Supporting Actor (Trond Nilssen) at the Norwegian International Film Festival 2011 and Best Feature Film at Lübeck Nordic Film Days 2011, King of Devil's Island depicts the violent uprising of a group of young boys against their oppressive guardians.
Also in the cast are Kirstoffer Joner (Shooting Star) and rising talents Benjamin Helstad (Body Troopers, Angel) and Trond Nilssen.
The film is described as a story of hope and friendship in the face of great hardship.
Based on a true story, King of Devil's Island tells the unsettling tale of a group of young delinquents banished to the remote prison of Bastøy.
- 4/22/2012
- by David Bentley
- The Geek Files
The King Of Devil’S Island takes place in 1915 on Bastoy, an island off the coast of Norway that’s sort of an Alcatraz for teenage boys. This wooded island prison, known as a Borstal is in the middle of nowhere, inescapable and grim. As depicted in this engrossing new drama from Norwegian director Marius Holst, it’s one of the most realistic and depressing incantations of hell on earth you’ll ever see, albeit a freezing cold one. The inmates use numbers instead of names, and are forbidden to discuss their past. The sadistic guards heap mental, physical and sexual abuse on them, and instead of the boys being reformed with education they end up being exploited as cheap, manual labor. The King Of Devil’S Island focuses on the two newest residents at Bastoy; Erling (Benjamin Helstad), is a tough older teen who has already spent some time as a sailor,...
- 11/15/2011
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Based on a true story, King of Devil’s Island dramatises the 1915 uprising at a correctional facility on Bastøy Island, Norway. Set in the Oslo fjord, the film charts the arrival of alleged murderer Erling (Benjamin Helstad) at Bastøy Boys Home: an unforgiving residence for Norway’s maladjusted youth which prefers numbers to names and forbids talk of the past.
Inducted with fellow offender Ivar (Magnus Langlete), Erling wastes no time in provoking the harsh school governor (Stellan Skarsgard) and coming into conflict with housemaster’s pet and dorm leader Olav (Trond Nilssen). When a teacher is caught sexually assaulting a pupil, however, order gives into chaos as the youths revolt.
Given the scale of the uprising and the infamy of the aftermath from which the film takes its name, it is truly surprising how unhurried director Marius Holst is to realise it onscreen. Instead, Holst conjects a series of...
Inducted with fellow offender Ivar (Magnus Langlete), Erling wastes no time in provoking the harsh school governor (Stellan Skarsgard) and coming into conflict with housemaster’s pet and dorm leader Olav (Trond Nilssen). When a teacher is caught sexually assaulting a pupil, however, order gives into chaos as the youths revolt.
Given the scale of the uprising and the infamy of the aftermath from which the film takes its name, it is truly surprising how unhurried director Marius Holst is to realise it onscreen. Instead, Holst conjects a series of...
- 6/20/2011
- by Steven Neish
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
King of Devil's Island from Norwegian director Marius Holst with star Stellan Skarsgard in the lead, will open the Goteborg Film Festival which is Sweden's largest film event. The fourth film from Holst makes its international premiere at the festival which opens on January 28th and is a gritty tale based on a true story of a youth detention center uprising near Oslo. The main character is a new arrival who will do anything to escape and encourages inmates to launch a revolt against the sadistic regime. Also in the cast are Kristoffer Joner, Benjamin Helstad, Kimmo Rajala, Trond Nilssen and Magnus Langlete...
- 1/4/2011
- Upcoming-Movies.com
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.