The strength of Scandinavian films is confirmed yet again with Marius Holst's KING OF DEVIL'S ISLAND. The island of the title is Bastoy which, in the first half of last century was run as a prison, a harsh one, for maladjusted young men. The film is set in 1915 and begins with the arrival of Erling, BENJAMIN HELSTAD, a former harpoonist on a whaling boat. You can see from his eyes that he's not going to take life on the island lying down.

The punishments and the abuse forge a solidarity amongst the boys, particularly between Erling and Olav - Trond Nilssen. This is a prison story, usually my least favourite genre, but KING OF DEVIL'S ISLAND is distinguished by a number of factors. The performances from a largely unprofessional cast of young actors are tremendously convincing, both Helstad and Nilssen are fabulous, and STELLEN SKARSGARD as the Governor of the prison and KRISTOFFER JONER as the boy's guard are terrific. The other aspect of the film is the setting, the strangely beautiful bleak cold becomes a powerful character in the film as well.

And it is a supremely well made film, Marius Holst has handled this supposedly true story with great skill. It's quite a long film, about two hours, I'm sure David will give us the exact duration, but I was riveted for its entire length.

ABC - At The Movies
Copyright ABC - At The Movies