What a pleasant surprise this film was. I found it by chance. It seems I was on a collision course with fate to finally see this one day.
Indeed the film is loosely based on "The Lord of the Flies", but it clearly goes it's own way.
The Director used an interesting approach at the start of the film by filming it in black-and-white. The ride on the train introduces us to the young cast members whose own names are the same as the characters they play. When they get to their destination he changes over to coloured film as if to represent some kind of newly-found freedom.
This has since become my favourite foreign film of all. They definitely chose the right young teens for the parts. Also of note, this is the coolest group of boys you will ever see. Boys today just don't look that cool. Jens Rasmussen was an obvious standout.
Anyways, back to the movie: a lot of themes are touched on in this film. We see teenage angst develop into thievery, which develops into mass cooperation, which develops into deep friendships and young love once they arrive on the island.
Under this ideal surface trouble lurks. Eventually we see the kids splintering into two factions. Jens leads the three other older boys into a gang of hunters. While Martin maintains a respected leader ship role with the rest of the girls and younger kids.
Things begin to spiral out of control when we witness an accidental death, bullying, an infected leg, a rape, and bird being hunted and its head chopped off.
Finally, we witness one of the bullied boys being chased by the four hunters into a forested area. The boy is caught and strung up like a common prisoner. They leave him there and when they return they find him dead. Eventually the other kids put out a search party and find him as well. This leads to the final confrontation between Jens and Martin, as an intense fight between the two ensues, leading to Jens' death. The camera zooms in on Bo as he comes down from the hill to witness the final tragedy. The movie ends and we are left to finish the story in our heads with what will happen next.
Indeed the film is loosely based on "The Lord of the Flies", but it clearly goes it's own way.
The Director used an interesting approach at the start of the film by filming it in black-and-white. The ride on the train introduces us to the young cast members whose own names are the same as the characters they play. When they get to their destination he changes over to coloured film as if to represent some kind of newly-found freedom.
This has since become my favourite foreign film of all. They definitely chose the right young teens for the parts. Also of note, this is the coolest group of boys you will ever see. Boys today just don't look that cool. Jens Rasmussen was an obvious standout.
Anyways, back to the movie: a lot of themes are touched on in this film. We see teenage angst develop into thievery, which develops into mass cooperation, which develops into deep friendships and young love once they arrive on the island.
Under this ideal surface trouble lurks. Eventually we see the kids splintering into two factions. Jens leads the three other older boys into a gang of hunters. While Martin maintains a respected leader ship role with the rest of the girls and younger kids.
Things begin to spiral out of control when we witness an accidental death, bullying, an infected leg, a rape, and bird being hunted and its head chopped off.
Finally, we witness one of the bullied boys being chased by the four hunters into a forested area. The boy is caught and strung up like a common prisoner. They leave him there and when they return they find him dead. Eventually the other kids put out a search party and find him as well. This leads to the final confrontation between Jens and Martin, as an intense fight between the two ensues, leading to Jens' death. The camera zooms in on Bo as he comes down from the hill to witness the final tragedy. The movie ends and we are left to finish the story in our heads with what will happen next.
