| "You may have forgotten your past, but it hasn't forgotten you..." |
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Storm
SCREENER/APPROX. 110 MINS/2005/SWEDAN UNRATED
SCREENER/APPROX. 110 MINS/2005/SWEDAN UNRATED
7.5
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A journalist is taking a cab home one night when a beautiful redhead being chased by several goons literally drops out of the sky and hops in his
cab, from there things really start to get strange.
Actually strange is an understatement, this film is just plain fucked up. It flips back and forth between a Matrix type action film and a heavy
character study/drama repeatedly. Everybody is after a box that contains a memory, one that our journalistic anti-hero DD has repressed and now
for some reason must come to grips with. This involves returning to the town he grew up in, now strangely abandoned deserted except for some
people from his past. At one point he stops to read a comic book and finds out that the plot line mirrors the events that have been happening to
him, it even tells him what to do next. Hell, they even mention Tobe Hooper's film “The Funhouse”.
Unfortunately, all this weirdness isn't strung together very well or even explained at the end. Indeed the ending is so abrupt one expects a plug
for a sequel, instead we're left hanging. The final effect is like watching The Matrix if it had been directed by Fellini, or given this film's Swedish
origins, Ingmar Bergman.
The film might have made more sense if I spoke Swedish and could have viewed it in its original language. I watched it in the dubbed version, (the
DVD offers you the choice of dubbed or subtitled versions), so maybe something was lost in the translation. Or maybe it really is meant to be this
cryptic and indecipherable.
For the same reason I can't comment on the acting. The leads certainly look the parts they're playing, (Eva Rose is especially easy on the eyes),
but not being able to evaluate them in their native language I can't say much more.
I can evaluate the other tech credits and they are for the most part excellent. The cinematography is well done, the camera managing to be highly
mobile when needed and static during the films quieter moments such as when DD is first seen walking through the now deserted town where he
grew up. These scenes are also strikingly composed and set up giving them a haunting quality reminiscent of much bigger films such as “Silent
Hill”. Indeed many of the shots are very striking and visually it rivals what's coming out of Hollywood these days.
The action scenes are well handled, both in terms of choreography and effects. The fight scenes are well staged and very convincing. You can
almost feel the punches at times, they're so well staged. The effects are somewhat fewer but well handled, gore is limited to a bloody demise at a
giant LAN party but that also makes the scene carry a lot more impact.
As I mentioned before I watched the film in a dubbed version. The DVD also includes a subtitled version in your choice of 2.0 or 5.1 stereo, (2.0
only for the dubbed version). The only other extras are the original trailer and a stills gallery. I'd have loved to hear a commentary on the filming,
but being a foreign film, there may have been language issues at play here.
So, what we have here is an interesting, well shot and directed film that is also cryptic, confusing and somewhat frustrating. Does the good
outweigh the bad or vice versa? Ultimately I give the nod to the good, what works very well and while it's far from as good as it could have been
it's still worth watching. The directors are working on a new film now, a horror/thriller named "Shelter" and I'm definitely looking forward to it.
cab, from there things really start to get strange.
Actually strange is an understatement, this film is just plain fucked up. It flips back and forth between a Matrix type action film and a heavy
character study/drama repeatedly. Everybody is after a box that contains a memory, one that our journalistic anti-hero DD has repressed and now
for some reason must come to grips with. This involves returning to the town he grew up in, now strangely abandoned deserted except for some
people from his past. At one point he stops to read a comic book and finds out that the plot line mirrors the events that have been happening to
him, it even tells him what to do next. Hell, they even mention Tobe Hooper's film “The Funhouse”.
Unfortunately, all this weirdness isn't strung together very well or even explained at the end. Indeed the ending is so abrupt one expects a plug
for a sequel, instead we're left hanging. The final effect is like watching The Matrix if it had been directed by Fellini, or given this film's Swedish
origins, Ingmar Bergman.
The film might have made more sense if I spoke Swedish and could have viewed it in its original language. I watched it in the dubbed version, (the
DVD offers you the choice of dubbed or subtitled versions), so maybe something was lost in the translation. Or maybe it really is meant to be this
cryptic and indecipherable.
For the same reason I can't comment on the acting. The leads certainly look the parts they're playing, (Eva Rose is especially easy on the eyes),
but not being able to evaluate them in their native language I can't say much more.
I can evaluate the other tech credits and they are for the most part excellent. The cinematography is well done, the camera managing to be highly
mobile when needed and static during the films quieter moments such as when DD is first seen walking through the now deserted town where he
grew up. These scenes are also strikingly composed and set up giving them a haunting quality reminiscent of much bigger films such as “Silent
Hill”. Indeed many of the shots are very striking and visually it rivals what's coming out of Hollywood these days.
The action scenes are well handled, both in terms of choreography and effects. The fight scenes are well staged and very convincing. You can
almost feel the punches at times, they're so well staged. The effects are somewhat fewer but well handled, gore is limited to a bloody demise at a
giant LAN party but that also makes the scene carry a lot more impact.
As I mentioned before I watched the film in a dubbed version. The DVD also includes a subtitled version in your choice of 2.0 or 5.1 stereo, (2.0
only for the dubbed version). The only other extras are the original trailer and a stills gallery. I'd have loved to hear a commentary on the filming,
but being a foreign film, there may have been language issues at play here.
So, what we have here is an interesting, well shot and directed film that is also cryptic, confusing and somewhat frustrating. Does the good
outweigh the bad or vice versa? Ultimately I give the nod to the good, what works very well and while it's far from as good as it could have been
it's still worth watching. The directors are working on a new film now, a horror/thriller named "Shelter" and I'm definitely looking forward to it.
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