King of Devil's Island (2010)

Tied for the best movie I have ever seen

Powerful

A Brilliant Conflict

Blistering performances.

This film 'inspired by real events' is set in the borstal on the Norwegian island of Bastøy in the winter of 1915. We are introduced to the establishment with new inmate Erling, inmate C19. It quickly becomes apparent that life there is harsh; the boys are expected to work hard and any infringement of the rules will incur severe punishments. Erling befriends Olav, inmate C1 who is the senior inmate in their dormitory. Olav is due to be released soon so doesn't want to rock the boat but when he witnesses Bråthen, the housefather, abusing a boy Erling persuades him to inform the governor. Rather than investigate the governor accuses him of lying. The events that follow lead up to Erling and Olav being moved to solitary confinement however they escape and soon there is a full scale revolt against the prison staff. As the military arrive to quell the uprising Erling and Olav attempt to escape the island by crossing the frozen fjord.While this certainly isn't a feel-good film it has enough feel-good moments to get us through the more gruelling scenes and the sheer bleakness of the setting. The cast do a fine job; Benjamin Helstad and Trond Nilssen are great as Erling and Olav; Kristoffer Joner nicely captures the cowardly unpleasantness of Bråthen and Stellan Skarsgård puts in a fine performance as the governor who clearly thinks he is doing a good job helping the boys when it is clear that his regime is far from good. The story moves along at a decent pace; neither feeling rushed nor dragging. The film has a very cold feel; it isn't just the snow on the ground; the light has that permanent blue tint of an overcast winter day and the boys are clearly not dressed for the weather. While the regime we see is harsh the film doesn't show anything too unpleasant meaning the film is suitable for teenagers and older. Overall this might not be a film to 'enjoy' but it is certainly worth watching.These comments are based on watching the film in Norwegian with English subtitles.

Good Norwegian drama, but could have been great. Good plot, well developed. The set up and build up to the inevitable climax was great, and set the scene for a fantastic conclusion. Character development is also good.However, the final scenes isn't as satisfactory as the build up. There are a few scenes and events which just don't gel, and which make the last quarter or so of the movie feel a bit contrived. Credibility is restored somewhat by the moving ending, however.Good performances all round. The only known actor (to us non-Norwegians, at least) in the cast is Stellan Skarsgard, who seems to appear in every Scandinavian movie. He is excellent, as always, as the governor of the prison.

Another piece of Norwegian greatness. KING OF DEVIL'S ISLAND (great title, incidentally) is one of those based-on-a-true-story-you've-never-heard-of movies, charting the brutality of life inside a remote and wintry island-based borstal during the early 20th century.Coming across as a Norwegian version of the hard-hitting British SCUM, KING OF DEVIL'S ISLAND is great whichever way you look at it. The technical qualities are excellent, as is the acting from a mostly no-name cast whose one main star is Stellan Skarsgard, as miserable and burly as he's ever been. It's the developing relationship between Benjamin Helstad and Trond Nilssen that really makes this involving viewing, despite the distasteful elements of the subject matter and the general feeling that this isn't going to have a happy ending.In any case, I absolutely loved this film and want to see more like it. The Scandinavian countries seem to be turning out hit after hit at the moment, both in television and film, and it's a shame Britain and the USA couldn't follow some of their cues. If you want a lesson in how to make an exceptional bit of drama then you could do a lot worse than checking out KING OF DEVIL'S ISLAND.

excellent movie. i am from Portugal. congratulations people.this is a great movie more than i expect from . excellent plot, excellent direction, excellent actors. the script is very good, even for a story from 1915 (i think).i am very pleased to see another great movie from northern europe.only remains a good film from finland, because the 3 other are completed with very good films. as far as i know there are very good actors that i see is theirs breakthrough movies for IMDb. i think they're very good in their home country. we all should be aware that not from hollywwod comes good films and actors. congratulations