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The Age of Commercialism

Good concept, poorly executed.

best movie i've ever seen.

This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

A controlling, abusive man slowly breaks down the woman he's in a relationship with. He subdues her word by word, one act after another. It's so easy to relate to. And I just want to tear her out of there. I can see how easy it is to just give in a little bit in the moment, and then the next moment. Eventually you're deep in the darkness, and it's even more difficult to get out. The pain and difficulty of going against him, being the target of his anger. This movie shows it all. Including the sadness and pain of being a friend seeing it happen to someone you care about.

The clue to this movie is the title, 'US'. A young female school teacher Ida, (Anna Åström), feels intimidated by a teenage boy student of 'Middle Eastern Appearance', Tonårskille (Kevin Vaz). She is protected by senior teacher, Krister (Gustaf Skarsgård). All her fears are projected onto 'The Other', Tonårskille as she misinterprets his meaning. But in the end it is her protector, Krister, who carries out the acts she has projected onto 'The Other'. I watched his movie just after reading "We need to talk about white people' by Amer Zahr. So I guess that directed my thinking. But good thing to think about 'US' rather than always focus on 'The Other' as the source of your fears.

Not bad, but quite disappointing. The movie builds up well, but then falls apart at the end. For the most part it was the story of a (potentially failed) relationship: the blissful courtship, the problem- free initial steps of living together, then the fraying at the edges as hitherto unseen flaws in the couples' characters are revealed, the frustration (why does she stay with him?), the intrigue (what will happen to them?). Then...an incredibly random and perverse ending.It was a good character study up until that strange conclusion, and went some way to answering the question "Why do beautiful, intelligent women go out with paranoid, controlling, obsessive-compulsive prudes?". Unfortunately the answer is that flattering to these beautiful, intelligent women.Decent performances from the two lead actors, Gustaf Skarsgaard and Anna Astrom. Astrom is incredibly beautiful.Sadly the soundtrack does not include Pearl Jam's "Better Man" and Joe Jackson's "Is she really going out with him?" as these would have been highly appropriate.

Grade school teachers Ida and Krister have a relationship that evolves from passionate love, through suffocation, into downright destructiveness. Although there are some scenes that feel mostly like filler, this film does a good job of portraying their downward spiral. An important supporting role (in fact one of just a few) is that of Linda - Ida's caring best friend, who acts as an important safety valve for her.It becomes clear very early in the story that Ida lacks a strong center, and that is the source of her troubles. She is automatically drawn to the more assertive Krister. Anna Åström's acting is mostly decent, although there is something slightly off about the way she delivers her lines. She is clearly the weakest member of the cast, although a few years of experience may iron out her imperfections. Anna Åström is achingly pretty and has a flawless body, like almost all young Swedish actresses. It's easy to wonder what Swedish film makers will do if they need to cast someone average looking, or even physically unattractive! Gustaf Skarsgård manages to avoid the drama school antics - that is to say, stage delivery - that often plagues the Swedish acting elite. He is a good actor, but his part could have been more chiseled out. I would like to have seen and felt more of the inner turmoil that must be the cause of Krister's sometimes erratic behavior. For those of you who are unfamiliar with Swedish film - Gustaf is the Brother of Alexander Skarsgård, best known for his part in the TV series 'True Blood'. Some English speakers may also remember Gustaf Skarsgård as the deranged boat-builder Floki from the history channel series 'Vikings'.Rebecca Ferguson is in my opinion the one who delivers the best performance in 'Vi'. Her character Linda can be a bit of a bitch, and her confrontations with Gustaf Skarsgård's character are the most intense and engaging scenes in the film. Until recently, my memories of Ferguson were limited to a couple of abysmal soap operas, but her stellar performance in the TV series "The White Queen" has redeemed her in my eyes, at least. It doesn't hurt that she's easy on the eyes, either. Remember what I wrote about Swedish actresses? The director manages to evoke a lot of atmosphere with very small means in a few scenes. But all in all, the scrip feels weak. This is especially true when it comes to the dialog in some places. The poor dialog and the strange lack of momentum in some parts of this film is what prevents it from being a really good one, instead of just average.There is graphic nudity and very realistic sex scenes in this film. They feel much more real life than a lot of the stuff you see coming from the US these days. A word of warning - small children may ask a few difficult to answer questions about some scenes in 'vi', especially toward the end.