Bene Cumb Apart from boarding schools, similar things have taken place in military forces, prisons, cults/sects and other closed places where hierarchy, strict rules and obeying older ones is a must, either traditional or written down. And outsiders or those having different ideas or opinions are bullied, and only seldom they obtain some victory - and if, then via help from outside. The film is splendidly directed (the film was an Academy Award nominee), written (events and development of characters seem logical, realistic) and all major actors are great, especially Andreas Wilson and Gustaf Skarsgård."Luckily", in the Ondskan-film, all survived, at least at the bodily level; mental influences may and usually do appear later. If you desire more dramatic experiences, you should see http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0988108/

Pawan Maruvada Ondskan reminded me of myself. It just took me back to my school days where I was naughty and got frequently directed by the teachers.I could relate with Erik in many parts of the movie. The film started at a slow pace but gradually picked up the heat. It is a brew of high end human emotions and and even more excellent direction. I cried When Pierre left the school and also I was amused when Erik tells Silverhielm that he isn't like and him and he will never kill him,. I think that scene itself speaks volumes about the movie.The music and camera work need special mention, there are some scenes in which an ordinary director would fail to deliver the goods by being normal, but in 'Ondskan' even some trivial scenes can frighten you and set your heart best two times faster. The actress who played Marje is sexy and she has the charm to keep you asking for more!The romance levels are quite low but they are good enough to increase the audience's love for the movie. I especially liked the scene in the end where the lawyer comes to talk with the headmaster towards the end. The letter which Marje writes to Erik is also touching and the way Eric reacts to it just wonderful.Ondskan has a few glitches here and there (like the ending scenes with the Sports teacher and stuff) but they are not strong enough to hamper the rating which I gave!. On the whole it is a good film with a good cast and great direction!. I don't understand why some Swede's didn't like this movie but for me it was simply SUPERB!Cheers!

secondtake Evil (2003)Evil is Not Where You Think--Could be Called Triumph of the WillSustained mainly by solid direction and good acting, and suffering from a low-level familiarity and brush with boy-school clichés, Evil is eminently watchable, ultimately rewarding. It slowly builds on the compelling lead boy/man played by Andreas Wilson, and the violence he almost unbelievably rises above. He is saved by friendship and love (and sex, maybe), and has to endure not just a cruel stepfather but a cruelly wimpy mother who lets him get a beating for nearly nothing.The most chilling part of the whole power-tripping by these boys is not that it's believable (it is and it isn't, in turns), but that it is a metaphor for what has happened already: Nazi Germany in the 1930s, a culture built on intimidation, old fashioned rule of honor over justice, and a forbidding of so-called snitching (of telling the necessary truth when inconvenient to someone in power). And of course, being in power this way really is a sham, a house of cards that has to be maintained by ever vigilant violence, and threats, and deception.I'm not making up the metaphor, either. The meanies in the boy's dorms are distinctly Nazi-esquire, and there is even an absurd (patently absurd, alas) scene of a teacher stereotyping boys by body type--the inferior Southern type against the better, stronger Germanic type, etc etc. It's appropriately sickening, and good to see in this Swedish film, Sweden as a nation having still some angst-wrestling to do over their role (or lack of role) in exactly this area--fighting Nazis and Nazi social tactics. It's subtle enough to work, and by the end you share the main character's triumph.Women will fall in love with Wilson, by the way, a kind of Nordic James Dean. I'm not sure if that's a carrot or a stick. But watch him. He's a true case of triumph of the will.

gradyharp EVIL (Ondskan) is a tough story from the novel by Jan Guillou that in screenwriter Hans Gunnarson's adaptation and Mikael Håfström's direction becomes an intensely interesting while terrifying film about all aspects of evil. It is intelligent, gritty, and transforming simultaneously and has become one of the more powerful coming of age films of this decade. Erik Ponti (Andreas Wilson) is a young high school lad, the son of a 'blind eye' mother and a viciously abusive father, who makes his way through school by fighting. After a particularly dangerous fight Erik is expelled and in order for him to matriculate into a university he is sent to an academy where he encounters the controlling student leader Otto Silverhielm (Gustaf Skarsgård) who quickly informs him that the discipline of the school is left in the hands of the students: the faculty elects to overlook the shenanigans of the students in favor of teaching in a self-imposed vacuum. Erik is assigned a roommate Pierre Tanguy (Henrik Lundström) who is Erik's opposite: Pierre reads and studies and advocates the non-violence of Gandhi while Erik focuses on his athletic prowess in swimming and tries to submerge his pugilistic nature. But as the school year progresses Erik discovers the extreme evil of the students who govern the student body by violent skirmishes and humiliation of the undergrads. Erik becomes a school champion swimmer, a feat that only draws the envy and hate of Otto and his henchmen and 'times in the ring' bring out Erik's fighting responses. He can take care of himself but when the violence turns toward Pierre, his only friend, he gathers the courage to confront the faculty with the student goon squad activities. Erik has broken a cardinal rule: he is attracted to Marja (Linda Zilliacus), the kitchen help, resulting in Marja's losing her job AND she is pregnant with Erik's child. Erik is expelled, returns home to his supportive but copeless mother, has one final fight with his abusive father, and returns to his school to unmask the realities of student activities that shock the faculty. How this change affects Erik and those that he respects and loves brings some surprises to the ending of this film. Andreas Wilson offers a multifaceted performance that reminds this viewer of the young James Dean. He is able to make an essentially negative person into someone about whom we care very much. Likewise, Henrik Lundström molds his character with dignity, humor and honor and is the perfect foil for Wilson's transformation. The cinematography by Peter Mokrosinski and the musical score by Francis Shaw add exactly the right atmosphere for this daring little drama. Highly recommended. Grady Harp