Evil (2004)

Apart from boarding schools, similar things have taken place in military forces, prisons, cults/sects and other closed places where hierarchy, strict rules and obeying older ones is a must, either traditional or written down. And outsiders or those having different ideas or opinions are bullied, and only seldom they obtain some victory - and if, then via help from outside. The film is splendidly directed (the film was an Academy Award nominee), written (events and development of characters seem logical, realistic) and all major actors are great, especially Andreas Wilson and Gustaf Skarsgård."Luckily", in the Ondskan-film, all survived, at least at the bodily level; mental influences may and usually do appear later. If you desire more dramatic experiences, you should see http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0988108/

I think Evil (or Ondskan) has two major inaccuracies.One: the OZ, Efilmcritic.com quote on the USA DVD cover: "It's Fight Club in a boarding school." Hardly. Sure there's fighting, and one of the many torments the bullies came up with, is a late evening punching match, but comparing the Evil to Fight Club is like comparing Muppets Take Manhattan to Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan.And two: the title itself. These young males at the said boarding school are bad and definitely bullies, but evil? Barely, that's how they were raised as was the consensus at the horrible school they attended. Maybe they didn't mean, those terrible punks, because at one point, the lead character, Erik (Wilson) is called "evil." Again, he's disturbed, angry, lashes out – all typical of most teens, especially beaten and battered kids, but evil? If there ever was a misdiagnosis, this would be it.Other than those two things, I thoroughly enjoyed this gem I happened to accidentally stumble upon as a $1.99 bargain bin used DVD at Blockbuster. Great acting with eye-candy to boot, a good story and revenge you could honestly support.Erik's beaten by his stepfather, probably nightly and when he takes out his anger, frustration and powerlessness on other kids at the schools he bounces from one to the next, eventually only one (boarding) school will take him. There is extreme order at this all-but militarily ran private school and it's run by the seniors. The elders/teachers/nurses, etc, look away as if not to be bothered with boys who's heads grow larger by the blows they give the young kids.Rebel Erik barely takes any of the abuse and is subjected to more. He befriends his nerdy roommate, Pierre (Lundstrom) who attempts to get Erik in line for the "normal" attacks from the older kids. Erik, rightfully so, will have none of that and acted a whole lot like if I were in his shoes. (Case in point, I wouldn't last 15 minutes in any boot camp. I would be either laughing or sneering at the higher ranking people above me. Yeah, that wouldn't go over well, hence the 15 minutes – if that, and you can imagine, neither did it for Erik.) Erik also falls for one of the female café workers – something strictly forbidden. Actually make that, even conversation with them is against the rules. In fact, though Erik doesn't appear to be setting to break all the "rules of tradition," he seems to be crossing them off the list as the movie progresses. He just finds, again, like I would, these rules aren't necessarily meant to be broken – they're just stupid.Actually giving these bullies above him some credit, when they couldn't (literally) shake Erik into line, they lash out against the ones he loves or favors, like friend Pierre. You truly feel (meaning, good acting on Wilson's part) Erik holding back as much as he can due to a promise he made to his mother to stay out of trouble, or being expelled. You'll see like the older cartoons, where the red starts from his feet and climbs until it's on his neck and eventually consumes him and steam comes out. You may not feel revenge is good, but here you'll root him on in the exciting conclusion.I would highly recommend this movie. Though it's not the most original, and it's predictable where it's headed, the acting, dialogue, the growth, and like I said, eye candy is worth the trip.

Some films have success in creating the atmosphere more than the others. Like in the Godfather; the setting is so gripping that you feel like being a member of Corleone family when they discuss "business" at dinner table. When the camera takes you to Sicily, you feel the blazing sun and would gladly walk into that modest Sicilian bistro to get some shade and for a glass of wine or grappa to appease your thirst. Or in "Alien" you would sense the utter "emptiness" of space where "no one can hear you scream". This film is one of these kind.Ondskan's main storyline is about the ordeal that a rebellious and belligerent youth character goes through in a boarding school of 1950s Sweden. What a variety of brutality and ill-treatment against the juniors and lower class students by seniors who are mostly youngsters from upper-level class in this drab and repelling boarding school ! Moreover, all this goes with the total indifference of schoolmaster and teachers, in spite of such acts. The country is cold (Sweden), the setting is cold and so are the characters around. As far as the school-hood bullying part is concerned, it is simply unbearable. In my own experience- but not at boarding school- we also have had to endure some bullying by our school seniors, albeit not at that intensity. As if the harassment of seniors was not enough, our main protagonist Eric has a stepfather at home who takes every opportunity to punish him by whipping and who shamelessly offers to shake hands at the end of corporal punishment. Granted that made in USA films feature abundant sordid stuff such as school-hood aggression and/or penitentiary rape. However, here it looks not only punishment by seniors, but a total submission of newbies seems to be both expected and institutionalized with the utmost cooperation from the administrators. And this is the most disturbing part of the picture: what otherwise some nice- behaving, polite and understanding educators become totally oblivious in spite of such oppression and brutality rule in the school. Eric tries to fight back as much as he can on one hand, while still restraining himself on the other, for fear of being expelled if he goes too far. Finally, when he sees what happens to his roommate Pierre and the young maid with whom he has some affair, he decides to settle accounts with his tormentors. It is a relief to see how Eric ends up getting even with the school headmaster, the chief of the bullying gang and his stepfather in his own ways.Some scenes might be quite disturbing to watch, but hey, we are not living in an ideal world, not even today.

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!