Review for Evil

Director: Mikael Hafstrom

Released: 2003

Genre: Drama

Evil is a semi-autobiographical work, based on a best selling Scandinavian novel written by Jan Guillou. It is first and foremost an uncompromisingly righteous, Scandinavian feature, as well as Sweden's 2003 submission for Oscar consideration in the Best Foreign Film category- however, it was not released in American theaters until 2006. I randomly stumbled upon Evil while on my Netflix account, and decided on a whim to watch it.

The movie takes place in the year 1959, and centers around Eric Ponti, an aloof and rebellious but intelligent teenager. One day, he is expelled from the public school he attends for his vicious bullying. His mother, in a desperate attempt to keep Eric in school, sells off a good portion of the family's furniture to enroll him in a prestigious boarding institution. Eric decides to do away with his violent behavior, but soon discovers that the students at the private establishment cause more trouble than those in the state school he was expelled from. For staying true to his own beliefs and treating the upper classmen as equals, Eric goes against the established hegemony, and is the target of an extreme amount of harassment. He never gives in to the pressure to fit in, however, and eventually justice is served against those who tormented him.

As I stated before, Evil is uncompromisingly righteous; its unwavering sense of morality makes for a very heavy-handed film. The result is a work that favors sheer visceral power over depth. I would have loved to have been shown a more informative account on boarding school life during this time- how did such antiquated hierarchies within the school system survive for so long after World War II? Why was a former Nazi party member allowed to teach anthropology, and was he ever actively replaced? How long did it take for official Swedish law to overshadow the cruel hazing rituals and other deranged, unquestioned policies shown in the movie? Institutional violence is a very serious and intriguing topic, and I believe such a fascinating subject warrants more merit and consideration in that respect.

Despite my misgivings, I still greatly enjoyed Evil- it exudes this sense of absolute justice, which seems to be director Mikael Hafstrom's ultimate intention. In that sense, Evil is a lot like movies such as Rocky: it is a wonderful, feel-good showing, if you can stomach the initial acts of cruelty... so long as you do not read too much between the lines.

3.00/4.00