Watch Evil For Free

A lot more amusing than I thought it would be.

It's hard to see any effort in the film. There's no comedy to speak of, no real drama and, worst of all.

The acting in this movie is really good.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

Having suffered the same bullying during my youth, I can identify myself with Erik's character. The if is based on Jan Guillou's semi-autobiographical novel with the same name.Erik is a man who has been treated as an outcast all his life. At home he is beaten by his step-father, who instead to showing love to his son, sadistically straps him at any small misdemeanor.The beatings that Erik endures, he lashes the feelings out in fights at school. It is during one such fight that he goes overboard and is expelled. In an attempt to provide her son with a fresh start he sorely needs, his mother sells of some of her possessions and sends Erik to a boarding school in Stjärnsberg.While in Stjärnsberg, Erick clashes with the seniors, who are of a ruthless domineering bullying sort. Erik refuses to be subdued by the seniors and it sparks off when he is given the task of cleaning some of the seniors shoes. From then onwards the bullying gets progressively violent till it is time for Erik to use his wits to escape from a second expulsion.What evil men do against their fellow brothers. Jesus said,"But whoever strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other to him as well". But does this moral apply to this film? I am a pacifist by nature and I do not believe that people need to beat others up when they can coexist peacefully on this beautiful garden of Eden: the planet earth. The direction, photography, script and dialogue is top-notch. I loved Andreas Wilson acting as the fresh-faced youngster Erik. Also Henrik Lundström who plays the intellectual peace-loving Pierre Tanguy, who tries to make Erik keep a low profile and keep out of the seniors path. Mikael Håfström proves that he is a worthy director. I also loved his horror-film 1408 and if you haven't seen it yet, I suggest you do so.

As a film student, and sort of a film prude it becomes difficult for me to find movies that really spark my interest. I've grown quite tired of the majority of Hollywood films and like to dip into the international buffet of movies once and awhile. This film truly reminded me why I love foreign films. In aspect of the screenplay, it was based off a book written in 1981 that was roughly based on someone's real life experiences with institutionalized violence. The movie has reviews that claim it to be "Fight Club in a boarding school." I couldn't disagree with that statement more. There may be a few resemblances, but this story can't possibly be compared to anything else. It has so many different plot lines that need to be examined by the view themselves. Between Erik and Pierre's friendship, Otto Silverhielm's true evil spirit, or a deep film-noir inspired look at Erik's motives behind his rash behaviors.The story aside, looking at this film purely as a film; it still stands out. The shot selection is purely superb and Mikael Hafstrom deserves to be recognized as an artist. One scene in particular stands out as Silverhielm humiliates Erik in the dining hall. As Erik leaves, and is being alienated from the school itself, there is a long tracking shot following him as he walks out of the dining hall. He is in perfect focus while everyone else in the scene is out of the depth of field. The viewer is taken along with Erik as he takes the uncomfortable and embarrassing walk out of dining hall. This visual language makes the film stand on its own, and allows one to understand what is going on whether or not they have the subtitles turned on.Overall the film is truly a beautiful work of art that reminds myself of why I came to love films in the first place. It is visually stunning and tugs at your heart strings while making you think about morality and motivations. In my book, it's a must see.

In 50s Stockholm, rebellious boarding schoolboy Erik (Wilson) learns for himself that whichever upper-class twit first came up with the phrase 'schooldays are the happiest days of your life' should be nailed to a blackboard and pelted with red-hot chalk rubbers. Humiliation and spirit-crushing pranks in the name of 'team spirit' are top of the syllabus, as twisted head prefect Silverheim (Skarsgard, son of Stellan) tries to break him, body and soul. As ever, 'evil' manifests itself through complicity and inaction, and with benignly corrupt headmasters, and ex-Nazis preaching eugenics in the classroom, it's easy to see where the rot set in. Overly familiar ('school-as-microcosm-for-big-bad-world') it may be - we've enrolled here many times before, notably with If... - but it's mitigated by a brutal, blazing performance from young lead Wilson. B plus.

I heard of this movie years ago and just picked it off the shelf at the video store tonight. I was amazed by how thoroughly enthralling and well-crafted this film was. This was a real find.Set in Sweden in the 1950s, "Ondskan" ("Evil") is the story of tough but intelligent teenager Erik. Raised in a middle-class home with a caring and empathetic mother but a violent stepfather, Erik's frustration emerges in schoolyard brawls, which culminate in his being sent away to an upper-crust boarding school.It soon emerges that there a sadistic pecking-order at the school, where the patrician sixth-formers systematically brutalise and humiliate the other students, and with apparent impunity (the staff barely seem to care). The plot's fascinating twist is that Erik, who, by his own admission has been "fighting all his life", cannot resort to physical self-defense because fighting a sixth-former means immediate expulsion, and thus the ruination of his education and prospects. (His mother sold most of her possessions to send him to a private school and the headmaster who expelled him from his previous school told him that no state school would ever take him in.) So how will this young man deal with his predicament? Bubbling away gently in the background is a theme of the aftermath of WWII. At least one of the teachers at the school still adheres to a racist ideal of Aryan supremacy; and even the sixth-form bullies themselves appear to be the residue of an era when Social Darwinism was given very vicious practical expression.It's remarkable how many polished and accomplished cinematic gems there are out there that are just waiting to be discovered. "Evil" is an excellent film: thoughtful; expertly photographed; wonderfully acted by a remarkable young cast; refined in its presentation; and gripping all the way.So - check it out and if you like it, tell your friends. Don't allow this gem of a film to become criminally overlooked!