The Invisible (2002)

I saw the remake of this utter masterpiece and decided to take a look at this, I searched and searched, over and over. Never really getting anywhere because the closest I could get to watching it was a YouTube video without subtitles (FYI I don't speak Swedish, which is why a review of this hasn't been submitted earlier), I then was at the end of my rope (tried everything), finally I saw it (not a day went by without me thinking about seeing this).Gustaf Skarsgård's acting is one to be admired. My reasoning is that I saw him in Evil and this (2 completely different roles) and both of them very convincingly. But it's not like he was the only person that was convincing, Tuva Novotny was also very good as well... for a fact I haven't seen a cast this good since Harjunpää ja pahan pappi, that is saying a lot.The movie is actually one of the best foreign films that I have seen (Yes this includes the Bergman movies), it was a very entertaining and moving film from beginning to end (especially "end"). The characters are human in such a way that one minute you hate a character, then the next minute they're liked by the viewer... this also happens vise versa. The way they do it is incredible.For those whom have seen this and refuse to see the remake I will say something that will shock you with my ratings: Original: 10/10 Remake: 9/10 Yes guys - I think this is a superior movie - but I think the remake is also very good.

I was bored a night several weeks ago, when this movie turned up on a channel when I flicked by. I missed a little bit of the start, but something in it caught my attention. It had something in it worth continuing watching. Maybe it was the "odd" gangster (Tuva Novotny) in her hood? And am I glad I watched it until the end. The story is very beautiful, sad, heartbreaking and emotion-gripping at the same time. It is amazing what the performers and the directors created out of such a small budget.The most amazing part in the movie for me, was still how cunningly you start having good feelings for the villain. Small, subtle changes and all of a sudden, you feel really sad for the "wrong" character.All in all, a movie worth watching, even for those of you who don't like subtitles, since you can still feel the characters strongly through their voice tones and body language.

**Possible spoiler ahead** I had the opportunity to see this movie at a film festival last summer and I was blown away. This is so far removed from the usual teen horror stuff that is pumped out by major studios that it should never be compared to them. It was amazingly well done & reduced an entire theatre at Fantasia to tears. The acting was great & the ending heartbreaking, it is by far the best movie I've seen in way too long. In fact, I would love nothing more than to find out the DVD will be available in Canada. Definately a strong 9.5 out of 10.

Swedish film generally remains in stating the obvious and sticking to the conventions of the time, but then there are those rare exceptions, reaching an unforeseen level. 'Invisible' is one of those few. A splendid achievement by the team Bergvall and Sandquist in their first full-length movie.A couple of years ago they got an Academy Awards nomination in the short film category, for 'Victor', also on the grave theme of death. 'Invisible' is based on a novel by the Swedish writer Mats Wahl, a mighty storyteller.This story is indeed mighty. A high school senior, bound by his mother's high expectations, is beaten up brutally, due to a misunderstanding, by a delinquent girl of his age, and left for dead. When he comes to school the next day, he finds that everybody ignores him, as if he had become invisible. Soon, he realizes that he really is.This slight ingredient of the paranormal, makes the story rise to a mythical magnitude, and the film makers, as well as the actors, manage to keep it there, to explore the grand perspectives suddenly appearing. Still, the very concrete psychological drama continues, and intensifies.It all amounts to one formidably gripping experience, not easily forgotten. There are, of course, clear links to 'Sixth Sense' and a number of other movies about the mysterious borderland between life and death, and the necessity for our lives to reach some kind of conclusion, some kind of harmony, before passing on.If searching for them, one can find some small weaknesses - like the unnecessary presence of a gun, or the inability of the dialogue to deal with those profound existential questions - but that's easily forgotten in the very touching and beautiful whole of the film, and more so after its uncompromising and magnificent ending.