Suradit Several people have suggested this movie is a rip-off of the earlier movie Elephant or at least that it is derivative. That implies that Elephant had some exclusive franchise on telling a story about bullying in schools and that Columbine, which supposedly was the inspiration for Elephant, was the definitive example of bullying and its consequences.There have been far too many real life incidents of this sort and too little has been done to effectively protect students who are victims and who are forced to defend themselves with catastrophic violence ... to themselves or others. Maybe even more movies need to tell essentially the same story until enough people begin to comprehend why intervention is needed.There are things in this movie that seem a bit contrived. Except when in the classroom, students seemed to be totally unsupervised or monitored. Aside from one brain dead basketball coach, all the teachers and school head were "mature" women who seemed to be remarkably clueless and who vanished as soon as they left the classroom.When Kaspar is the only one who attempts to defend Joosep, he is accused of bullying him. Various students are called in to the headmistress to explain what was going on, but no one bothered to ask Joosep if Kaspar was bullying him. And it is a little difficult to believe that all the other students were so intimidated by the bullies that none of them could feel much sympathy for either Joosep or Kaspar. I suppose the level of violence and degradation that culminated on the beach, with the tacit or explicit complicity of all the students, was possible, but it seemed a bit over the top for something that happened before so many witnesses and in such an open place and with no intervention from anyone.It is, of course, an indictment of all the adults involved ... or who couldn't be bother to be involved ... as much as or more than the nearly universally sociopathic & psychopathic students. For all its faults, it is still a powerful movie with all too believable cast of actors playing the self-absorbed student characters. The tension & anticipation grow along with the relentless physical & verbal violence. I think it did quite well what it apparently set out to do and after watching it most people would feel exhausted and despairing for the senselessness of what happened ... both in the movie and in too many schools. I hope no one could watch this and be unmoved.

rven3 This film is remarkable, shocking, frightening, but most of all it was truthful and made without desire to sensationalise the practice of school bullying. I had to look up Estonia on Google Earth before watching this film; I knew it to be close to Latvia, but then I wasn't altogether sure where Latvia was, other than its proximity to Russia. That such a truthful and shocking film came out of this country is in itself remarkable, but that it was so very well made is even more so.One of my sons was ritually and regularly bullied in high school (taunted, bashed, called a 'poof') and I watched this confident boy turn into a scared, then cynical and angry adolescent. Whatever I did to stop this happening eventually resulted in an escalation of the bullying. This is the nature of bullies - they are determined to maintain power over others, since without this they perceive themselves as failures.In "Klass" we never gain any insight into why it is Anders and Paul have chosen dominance and violence as their weapon of choice. It is documented that the bullied often become bullies themselves, so we can only contemplate their possible real reasons for expressing such violent hatred against their 'freak of choice', the sensitive Joosep. The violence escalates as the film progresses, and it becomes clear that those who stand by and watch are probably relieved to not be the one on the receiving end.This film is very well made. The acting is always believable, the cast well-chosen, and there is little left in the final cut which is not absolutely necessary to the narrative. Visually it is often frightening as the viewer is drawn into each scene, and camera work and editing work are excellent. By the time Joosep and his accomplice, Kaspar, are at a point where they decide to take drastic action, I was feeling as trapped and hopeless as they were.A must-see for everyone in the Western world. It will shock you, but perhaps that is not altogether a bad thing.

Pascal Zinken (LazySod) Almost every class in high school knows one: a lonely child that is being picked on by everyone. Unable to give proper resistance against the different kids in the class that one person becomes the victim of just about everything. Most of the time it ends up OK in the end, but sometimes it goes to a point of no return and then it ends in full flexed drama. This film is about such a drama.Starting out at the point where a kid is picked out as being the one to pick on the events that happen happen in just the right pace. The film switches between fueling the fire and licking the wounds, and later between fueling the fire and planning the counter strike. It becomes impossible not to feel a certain level of sympathy for the guy, even though his actions are unforgivable. And that is why this film works well. Klass is a harsh message and I think it should be shown to all kids in high schools to show them the darkest sides of peer pressure and the effects of it on some people.9 out of 10 difficult lessons

tracy_flick "Klass" is the latest movie to arrive with the marketing personnel working overtime to illuminate audiences with the direction of the story, and in this particular case the knowledge is radiated in a tangible manner just from looking at the publicity work. Do I begin this review by giving away what happens just as every other writer who has seen "Klass" is doing? I would rather not spoil the fun. However, this production is marketed as the Estonian take on the Columbine High School incident so take from that what you will. I knew nothing about the parallel connection before my screening, but even if I had it wouldn't have been detrimental to the success of my viewing experience. There is much more going on here than simply a reaction to an event that took place the best part of a decade ago, and with the Virginia Tech Massacre still fresh in our mind, perhaps it is a reminder that bad things can happen outside of the United States of America now and again even if they are not classed as news-worthy.Read the full review at my website - -http://www.sightforallseasons.co.nr/