An OnDemand viewing on February 8th. This Swedish film got a late December 2014 U.S. release. The film was written and directed by Ruben Ostlund, who has done some interesting work over the last 20 years. Granted, I've never heard of anything he's done but it sounds interesting. The film takes place at a luxury hotel in the French alps where a young family; Tomas (father), Ebba (mother), Vera and Harry (the kids) are enjoying a ski vacation.
While eating lunch on the 2nd day, there is a controlled avalanche that gives the appearance that it is definitely not in control...
Suffice to say there's a panic and Ebba tries to gather the kids to flee. You can see Tomas make a half-hearted grab for Harry and bolts out of there leaving his family behind. It turns out that the panic was unnecessary and nothing was harmed. Tomas returns to his family as if it's no big deal. This really grinds Ebba's gears as she's not happy her husband left them there. When she brings it up, Tomas denies her version of the events and it really sets her off. She brings it up at a party with 2 friends who come to visit them (which causes an argument between the couple).
It eats away at Ebba and eventually Tomas has a breakdown and sobbingly admits his faults to Ebba. On their last day of skiing, the weather conditions are not optimum but they go anyway despite Ebba's reservations. In a thick fog, they lose Ebba, who was bring up the rear, and Tomas has to go "rescue" her. All is seemingly fine. As they're leaving on a bus back down the mountain, Ebba has a bit of freak out due to the multiple k-turns the driver has to make, it's mountain for crying out loud! The bus empties and the passengers walk down the mountain, sans luggage. End of film.
This was a really good film minimalist film that relies heavily on acting and dialogue. It had a bit of everything, comedy, drama and a little action as well. Tomas and Ebba are a good looking couple with good looking kids. A great life! Ebba's image of her family are shattered when Tomas runs off and she has a rough time dealing with. You can see it eat away at her until she finally goes off in front of Mats and Fanni. Tomas blows it off as nothing but after they discuss the incident with Mats and Fanni, the guilt starts to eat away at him until he breaks down. The film runs nearly 2 hours but it goes by quickly and I didn't see the need for it to take another run through the editing room like most films. Very nicely done. The thing that got me was if the rescue was staged by Ebba. After Tomas brings her back, she does not appear injured and they go on their merry way back to the lodge and eventually leave. Since she didn't appear injured, she just lost the others in the fog, did she fake everything so Tomas could redeem himself?
The only real issue I had was the ending. Why was it necessary for Ebba to freak out on the bus? I kind of felt that it belittled her character because she got off the bus and expected Tomas to follow her and bring the kids. That's my only issue and it doesn't change my opinion of the film. It was a very nice change of pace and I recommend seeing it. Thank you for your time.
No comments:
Post a Comment