Saturday 3 January 2009

(}AS IT IS IN HEAVEN>?

Last night I watched Så Som I Himmelen (As It Is In Heaven) which was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 2005. It's good, very good. Really strong drama, very toucvhing, with wodnerful characters. I liked that so many characters were given prominence apart from the main character played by Michael Nyqvist. The premise of the film is very simple but is carried out with a lot of depth turning this film not into some sort of Sister Act or Les Choristes. Så Som I Himmelen clearly is a film for adults and not a family film. Main character Daniel Daréus is the spill of the film, his pain, his grudge towards what happened to him as a child is what gives this film its main substance. I loved Nyqvist portrayal of the character, his silences during which you see him struggling inside. His fear for affection. Slowly he moves into his own self again and is dragged out this black hole with the help of all these beautiful people he has come to surround himself with. The best performance comes from actress Ingela Olsson who plays the wife of the village's pastor. The constant discussions between she and her husband are great to watch. She really throws herself into this role. The biggest role apart from Daniel is Lena. Frida Hallgren portraying her kind of fools the audience, at first coming off as this young, chippy, naive girl, but in the end showing that there's much more to her character than you expected. She becomes the character for which she end up caring the most for and who becomes such a great support to Daniel. In the end seeing them together I just felt so happy for these actors and for Kay Pollak, the film's director, as they really have succeeded in making a really strong film. They can all be proud of themselves as it is a wodnerful achievement.

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