aci-4 This is one of those movies ,where nothing special is happening and then theres that one scene where your jaws drop lol.. and you're like WOW did i really saw what i just saw? Amazing how in those days people were more free and less judging then now , its almost like we are going backwards rather then forward with being more free. That special part of the movie ,in my eyes in that one little thing people always seem to somehow forget, that no matter how cute and adorable or innocent your or whos ever child may look , when they come to thay age, they arent really much different then you (the adult). Its hard to accept that fact ,but thats the way it is. Yes, one could say ,well they could have made that part be less obvious, we'd still get it, .. yes true, they could have, but as then and specially now, there are soo many disgusting murders and whatnot in todays movies, but somehow that is accepted and normal ,even when your 8yo is watching it, you dont mind it? Just think about it.. what is more normal to see or know about , that movie part or butchering movies. I loved the JMJ soundtracks in it ,and alos that airal part where you can see Stockholm from the choppa together with JMJ's music is a perfect fit! As far as acting goes, well.. i've seen better but its a pass. As far as the plot goes, i'd do it differently some parts of the movie were too fast , and needed to be more slow, while others that were slow, could have been more faster.

merrywater Being Swedish and roughly of the same age as the protagonist of this movie I must say that I found the story quite far-fetched when I saw it on television during the mid-80s. It was just that kind of pseudo-realism that made the cultural elite of Sweden go in trance back then. As the author of the novel, P.C. Jersild, was highly reputable, I read the novel that the script was based on, and found it overall better, perhaps a bit ethereal.Kay Pollak became, however, before long known as the 'enfant terrible' of Swedish cinema as he more or less tried to bleed the Swedish Film Institute for more and more financial support of yet another pathetic picture project of his, "Love Me!" (also starring Tomas Fryk), released in 1986, and an immediate flop.Pollak later on released a video show, "To Choose Happiness", a sort of stand up, where he discussed the subject of managing conflicts. A narcissistic female boss of mine had the staff watching it in order to manipulate us into believing that instead of reacting at her mistreatment of us, we should think as Pollak suggests: "So she hates me? Wonder what bad things I've done? Better walk the line onwards, otherwise I'll start feeling unhappy..." As for "Kids' Island", I do suspect the enthusiasts of this film of merely being fascinated by the infamous profanity in it that was staggering even by Swedish standards. One has to feel sorry for the young actor. Did he regret being there? (After all, he wasn't as bad an actor as Pollak was a bad director: check out one of his better roles in "The 9th Company" (1987) about a military service unit where the inductees begin a large scale operation of selling out the army supply.) It might be of interest to know that, in Sweden, documentaries or movies dealing with people exposed to various hardships frequently are referred to as "Social Porn"...

jm10701 The very few reviews I could find online of Barnens ö really do not do it justice. I read them all before ordering the DVD, but for some reason I ordered it anyway. I regretted it almost immediately, but the order had already gone through so I couldn't cancel it. I'm very glad now that I couldn't. It's an extraordinary movie.I won't give a synopsis of the plot, because other reviewers have already done that. But I will say that I don't understand comments that it's bleak, shocking, weird, clinical, depressing or pornographic. It is certainly very unusual, which I suppose could make it seem weird to some people, but the other criticisms must reflect the reviewers' own issues, because I didn't see any of that in the movie I just watched. I'm not attracted to boys, so the nudity didn't seem pornographic at all to me--it's just a kid trying to figure out who he is with no help at all from the irresponsible adults in his life. And it's Sweden, not Utah, so topless women are no big deal.But what surprised me most is how positive the movie is in its depiction of this gutsy lost kid who goes on a sort of Odyssey through all sorts of strange experiences, looking for--and ultimately finding--himself. It's fascinating, thoroughly original, and deeply satisfying.I'm not at all surprised that Barnens ö won three major Guldbagge awards, for best film, direction, and actor, but I'm absolutely astounded that the actor who won was not Tomas Fryk, the kid whose fearless performance as Reine must be one of the most remarkable ever filmed, but Ingvar Hirdwall in the relatively insignificant role of Stig, Reine's mother's sleazy boyfriend. I don't understand that at all, but it doesn't alter the fact that this is a great movie.

ninoguapo I did not quite get Barnens O – it is one of the weirdest ones I have watched. The soundtrack was quite unusual as well – written and performed by Jean Michel Jarre - it makes the movie weirder than it was. I have to admit that I was almost going to change it and watch another one instead –at times the movie seemed plain dumb to me, or boring – or confusing. There are quite a few sexual references in that movie – trough they too are kind of messed up . Probably the only phrase that I will remember out of it is going to be "When you are alone, you can control things "– and "I will show them "- or something like that .The boy in that movie was obsessed with the idea of not growing up – "the last summer as a child "he thought once – and he sure lived it to the max. So if you have few hours to spare you can watch this movie – but you won't miss much if you don't.