swedeboi Reviews

One Kiss (2016)

Do NOT quit this movie!!

[10/10 · 12 September 2019]

I've never seen a movie with a gay theme that holds as much entertainment value for straights, gays, men, or women as this movie. It has it all, and it ends most remarkably.

Imagine, if you can, a Italian (English subtitled) movie featuring all the qualities of a flip gay musical that suddenly turns into a traumatic and beautifully-scored but star-crossed love affair, and then ends with power, pathos, and a strong message. That's Un Bacio.

The actors are superb--a gay boy Lorenzo played by the almost too pretty Rimau Grillo Ritzberger, a girl Blu played by the beautiful Valentina Romani, and a straight boy Antonio played by the stunningly handsome Leonardo Pazzagli (pronounced pahtz-EYE-ee). They play three best-of-friends, more or less outsiders at their high school. But Lorenzo falls in love with Antonio, who falls in love with Blu, who loves an another man out of school. It's obviously complicated, and it only gets more so when Lorenzo finally shows his affection for an unreceptive Antonio. The drama builds from there in traumatic scenes that anyone who has suffered unrequited love can understand. The heaviest scenes are scored perfectly to songs like Hurts and Read All About It...so perfectly that you will want re-watch these scenes many times.

Here I must stop. An enormous spoiler is possible, and I will not go there. I will say only that is a movie with beautiful sets, beautiful music, beautiful faces, powerful acting, sadness, tragedy, love, joy, and a message. Ask yourself how often you see a movie with all of that.

Just don't quit at the butterflies and musical interludes. They'll make more sense in retrospect. This movie is...what is the Italian word?....oh, yes...

FANTASTICO!!

Sleeping Giant (2015)

The Strains of Boyhood, Brilliantly Portrayed

[10/10 · 20 December 2018]

Andrew Cividino, in his feature-length directorial debut, has masterfully captured the behavior and stresses of typical adolescent boys. The slip-fighting, trash-talking, hijinks, humor, poor judgment, and friendship will take adult male viewers on a trip through time, and the attractive and engaging cast will capture female viewers as well.

The movie's three teen leads-first-time actors Jackson Martin as the wimpy, red-haired Adam Hudson, Nick Serino as the mouthy, ever-challenging Nate, and Reece Moffett as Nick's brooding and likeable cousin Riley-carry the story like veterans, largely because they were given rope to suggest scenes, ad-lib lines, and be themselves. Serino won his role as Nate in a casting call in his native Thunder Bay, Ontario. When no suitable Riley was found, Nick suggested his real-life cousin Reece, also a local. Indeed, Rita Serino, who plays the cousins' grandmother, is their real-life grandmother! Such casting doesn't sound like a formula for good filmmaking, but, here, it works. The boys won two international awards for ensemble acting and each of them won a nomination, or award, for best supporting actor at a major film festival with Nick winning Best Supporting Actor at the Canadian Screen Awards ("Canadian Oscars"). Needless to say, director Andrew Cividino cleaned up on major directorial awards, winning six.

The entire story unfolds on location in the Sunnyside Beach community of Amethyst Harbour a few miles from Thunder Bay. While spending a summer with his parents there, Adam is befriended by Nate and Riley who are summering with their grandmother nearby. The trio engage in typical rambunctious behavior, much of it resisted by wimpy Adam, to include skateboarding, cliff jumping, wrestling, sling-shot wars, egging homes, tobacco chewing, stealing beer, playing basketball, falling from golf carts, and smoking pot. At one point, Adam balks at a 35-foot cliff jump. As Nate yells, "You coward inbred f-k...jump!!" from below, Riley turns to Adam and says, matter-of-factly, "Look, if you jump, the worst that's going to happen is that you might get physically injured. If you don't jump, there's a 100% chance that Nate's gonna mentally abuse you all summer for not jumping."

But the plot is not all basketballs and beer. The mood darkens when Nate reveals a secret to Adam, one that alters his character. Then Nate brings the movie to a boil as the boys play a board game with Adam's parents. Irritated by a game rule, Nick goes on a frank, obscenity-laced rant in which he trashes his adult hosts and openly humiliates Riley, earning himself a bloody nose. Finally, the mood goes fully dark when a suggested coming-of-age theme drives Adam to tell a lie, a lie that brings the movie to an emotional and well-foreshadowed conclusion. Five of the last six words in the movie are f-bombs. Given the context, you won't even notice.

The boys' interactions are typical, genuine, and believable, and the trio leads the viewer through an entire range of teen emotions from bored, funny, happy, lovesick, flip, fearful, sarcastic, melancholy, angry, jealous, embarrassed, courageous, and sad. If I find any fault, it's that the movie ends too soon. You could watch these three kids act all evening. The movie is a remake of a 2014 short film in which Reece and Nick also starred and is beautifully filmed and nicely scored.

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Exact Google Earth Filming Locations (use 6-6-2017 imagery date)

Lakeside front yard, 48° 32' 35.34" N 88° 54' 13.39" W (community fair scene)

House and lakeside front yard, 48° 32' 34.73" N 88° 54' 3.54" W (Hudson's summer cabin; outdoor baseball toss scenes)

Back yard, 48° 32' 33.51" N 88° 53' 53.42" W (trampoline scene)

Pier, 48° 32' 31.97" N 88° 53' 52.49" W (pier scenes with Adam and Taylor and with boys chewing tobacco)

Sunnyside Beach, 48° 32' 32.25" N 88° 53' 51.82" W (final scene with Adam and Riley)

Roadside, 48° 32' 35.58 "N 88° 53 51.36" W (drunken Riley stuck in truck)

Recreational area, 48° 32' 37" N 88° 53' 58" W (opening swing set scene; basketball scene; community games scene)

Sunnyside Beach, 48° 32' 32.68" N 88° 53' 33.74" W (early wrestling scene)

Crystal Beach Variety (Sunys gas station), 48° 32' 38.02" N 88° 54' 47.83" W (beer theft scene)

The Fish Shop, 48° 32' 38.78" N 88° 54' 57.90" W (fish shop scene)

Rocky cascade, 48° 32 '2.72" N 88° 56' 30.08" W (Adam sitting on rock under bridge)

35-foot cliff, Caribou Island, 48° 31' 34.21" N 88° 49' 39.26" W (first cliff jump scene)

100-foot cliff (Todd's Cliff), Caribou Island, 48° 31' 39.60" N 88° 50 '1.60" W (boating scene and final cliff jump scene)

The Sleeping Giant, 48° 20' 0.22" N 88° 54' 31.52" W (multiple distant views)

Danny (I) (2009)

Short, painful, and too often real

[8/10 · 12 November 2018]

Danny, portrayed by Chadbourne Hamblin, is physically beaten by his worthless father to the point that Danny is in a constant state of withdrawal from others and terrified of being home. On one occasion, Danny, wracked with a feeling of worthlessness, is driven to remove a handgun from his father's closet, but he quickly returns it. A fellow student, Justin, played by Stewart Calhoun, then befriends Danny, though Danny is very slow to accept the friendship. But Justin persists, and their bond grows, bringing some light into Danny's life at last. The light is shattered at school, however, when Justin gently touches Danny's badly bruised face after another beating. Nearby students misinterpret the gesture, and Danny's emotional trauma reaches critical mass. That afternoon, Justin finds his terribly distraught friend in a public park, and events reach a poignant conclusion.

The film is a brief look at the friendship of two boys in the crucible of physical abuse and student homophobia. The acting may not be Oscar level, but Hamblin's role as a tortured teen is credible and his pain is brutally palpable...to the point that he barely makes eye contact with anyone in the entire film--clear evidence of thoughtful film direction. Filmed in SoCal's San Fernando Valley, this 25-minute short will not disappoint.

O Beautiful (2002)

an incredible melding of superb actors and a skilled director

[10/10 · 4 August 2017]

I have had the privilege of reviewing, for an independent blog, more than 120 coming of age, boyhood, and gay-themed short films using six independent criteria. Of those, O Beautiful and Funfsechstel stand at the very top—each because of its extraordinary acting, directing, and production.

You will not find a more compelling job of acting anywhere. The shock and fear that Jay Gillespie pours into the role of Brad (his very first acting role) and the remorse and frustration that David Clayton Rogers brings to his portrayal of Andy (only his second role) are simply incredible. The split-screen used in this film, a technique that has ruined many a movie, could not be more perfect. It allows you to experience each boy's reaction as he interacts with the other on an intense emotional plane. How it was done without 30 takes for each scene, I know not. It couldn't have been easy to get both actors to react so perfectly, so simultaneously, so often. But maybe they're just that good. They sure seem to be.

The movie represents a masterpiece of direction. Alan Brown even used the temperature to his filming advantage. Gillespie starts out completely naked below the waist and wearing only a light shirt as the film opens on a night so cold that the breath of both boys is visible throughout the film. The cold undoubtedly augmented Gillespie's portrayal of a boy in shock following a homophobic attack. Brown's eerie use of truck headlights in a post-harvest corn field gives the entire production a haunting, Halloween-like atmosphere that was further enhanced by even eerier primary theme music that features a person whistling.

Don't be put off by criticism of the dialogue. High school students (being portrayed here) are not always as astute as movie reviewers, and awkward comments—especially those made in the context of a remorseful teen trying to make amends with a peer whom he brutalized—would be expected in real life, I think.

Filming took place at the eastern end of a cornfield, at 40°52'13.03"N 74°30'28.75"W, just below the fence-line of a soccer field across from the New Hope Community Church in Denville, New Jersey. Despite the town's location in a fairly populated area of the state, a perfectly secluded spot was found for filming. With darkness and only one filming location involved, though, the movie could not rely on spectacular scenery or action sequences to compensate for even momentarily inadequate acting. And it didn't need to. I never thought it possible for a film of this quality to rest so completely on the acting ability of two such inexperienced actors and on so little else...well, little else except for superb direction and production.

You won't tire of this film after multiple viewings. Without a single change, this short film would make a worthy inclusion in a first-run feature-length movie.

Akron (2015)

The best of 130 gay-themed movies I've seen

[10/10 · 10 July 2017]

I've seen and compared them all--Watercolors, Departure, For My Brother, Latter Days, Monster Pies, Brokeback Mountain, Newcastle, A Single Man, Sons, L.I.E., Beautiful Thing, North Sea Texas, Mysterious Skin, Milk, Closet Monster, Hidden Kisses, The Boys, Hidden Away, Holding the Man, The Way He Looks, Dream Boy, The Journey of Jared Price...you name it, and THIS movie, Akron, ranks above them all. In virtually every category imaginable, it shines. It has extremely attractive young actors who understand their trade. It features passion and frequent heart-wrenching emotion. The plot is well-conceived and carries tension throughout. The filming and production are professional. It has everything, really, except a lot of nudity. It doesn't even become tiresome on a second or third viewing, because the acting is so superb and the emotional power so strong.

Edmund Donovan and Matthew Frias are brilliant in their portrayal of Chris and Benny, two college freshmen who fall in love at the University of Akron, but who prove to be as star-crossed as Romeo and Juliet, though unwittingly so at first. By the worst luck imaginable, they learn that they are linked by a tragic event involving their mothers that occurred 12 years before they met.

Don't be fooled by the rural settings used in the movie. It's not an apple farm yawner like Fair Haven. This film has pace and is supported by powerful chemistry between two young and very talented actors. The supporting cast members, especially Andrea Burns and Amy Da Luz who play the boys' mothers, bring extra power to the script.

Akron's IMDb rating of 6.0 (and lower in the recent past) kept me from watching it until recently, and what a huge mistake that was. It's every bit the equal of Departure and Brokeback Mountain and moves at a quicker tempo than either. You'll wonder, as I do, why its IMDb rating isn't closer to 8.0. Clearly, it suffered from under-promotion upon release. It is one truly beautiful film.

Fivesixths (2012)

a stage-worthy short with a dramatic finale

[10/10 · 9 June 2017]

Two things surprise me about the response to this German short film. First, it didn't win any major awards. It should have. Second, it was never expanded into what could have been an incredible Broadway play. This film captures its audience gradually, reaches an emotional climax, and requires only one scene--perfect for live performance.

The movie starts out inanely enough--kids at a boarding school playing Truth, Dare, or Lemon in a gymnasium at night. They start by raising their beers in a toast to someone named "Tim." We don't yet know who Tim is or why he isn't there.

The game proceeds through funny and sexy moments during which clothing items are lost for refused dares. Then, more contentious moments arise ... moments that test friendships. After one such moment, David, played by the talented and winsome Tom Gramenz, 20, predicts that a girl in the group may exact revenge on him when he faces his next dare. (Down to his boxers, he would likely accept.) His fear comes to pass, and the conclusion that follows is nothing short of breathtaking--a baring of mind, body, and soul reminiscent of Peter Firth's barn loft soliloquy in Equus (1977).

All five principal actors do a masterful job, but Gramenz's handling of the film's final moments will leave you in rapt silence as the screen goes dark.

Saint Ralph (2004)

A Canadian gem that will make you laugh and cry

[9/10 · 21 March 2017]

The movie is set at a Catholic boarding school in Hamilton, Ontario, and recounts the story of a young kid who seeks a miracle to help his mom who is in a coma. The miracle he selects is highly improbable, winning the Boston Marathon. Many obstacles are placed in his path, not the least being his youth and his authoritarian headmaster. What happens in the race must remain hidden to you. Don't even THINK about reading a review with a spoiler alert.

Others have said it. I will reiterate it. Saint Ralph (2004) will make you laugh and make you cry. An early scene, followed by what is best described as sight-gag scenes based on it, will have you laughing. The climactic scene, accompanied by a song that must have been selected by a genius, will have you in tears no matter who you are. Laugh and cry...really, what more can a movie do? Well, in this case, a lot.

Every aspect of the movie justifies its overwhelmingly favorable IMDb rating. The cinematography is crisp and colorful. The settings are perfect. The acting is superb. The musical selections are ideal.

Fourteen year-old Adam Butcher, who plays the lead role as Ralph, is just superb. You couldn't find a more likable young actor in all of Canada. (Adam would go on to even greater acting achievements, most notably in Dog Pound in which he powerfully plays the role of a disaffected and temper-prone teen trying to survive in a juvenile detention facility...another must-see.) The other characters in Saint Ralph are excellent as well, especially Gordon Pinsent as the headmaster and Gordon Campbell as the priest who coaches Ralph.

The bottom line is this. The acting in this film holds your interest from start to finish. The musical selections are extraordinarily fitting. The movie spans the spectrum of human emotions. And, most importantly, the movie leaves you feeling fulfilled.

Iki Haole: Nico's Hawaiian Adventure (1995 Video)

A Story of Friendship

[8/10 · 23 August 2016]

Iki Haole (E-kee HOW-lee), native Hawaiian for "My Little Foreign Friend," is the story of a 15-year-old Romanian kid on an adventure in Oahu. The movie stars Nico Almason (not pictured above) playing himself. Early on, a local boy named James, played by David Naughton, steps in to protect Nico from an angry surfer and, soon, the two become fast friends. Ultimately, they explore the entire island together, presenting leis to one another, eating pineapple on a plantation, swimming under a waterfall, exploring a legendary cave, practicing the hula, body-boarding, rafting, and skinny-dipping on a secluded beach.

Let me be frank. This movie is an easy one to give up on. At first, it seems like a low-budget surfing travelogue—just a teen wandering around Hawaii's beaches, coves, and pineapple plantations with an older local. (Yes, it's puzzling why a 15 year-old Romanian kid would be alone in Hawaii, but, hey, it's a movie, so don't ask.) Indeed, despite the movie's modest 53-minute length, the director had to resort to surfing scenes for filler. But don't give up on it. Here's why.

First, Nico Almason is an incredibly likable kid and is unquestionably Romanian as billed. His accent is Romanian. He has common Romanian first and last names. And he is the only boy in the entire film wearing a Speedo—a staple of Eastern European males when swimming.

Second, the movie provides a beautiful tour of Oahu. It reminded me of my own visits to many of the same spots when I was 26.

Third, the movie takes a joyous look at young male bonding. The affection that develops between Nico and James is brotherly in nature and will be particularly appealing to gay viewers. The boys are in frequent physical contact—hugging, dancing, horse-playing, butt-slapping, and chasing, and there is full frontal and rear nudity during a prolonged skinny-dipping scene. None of this, however, could be depicted with more innocence or playfulness. Any sexual suggestiveness will rest only in the mind of the beholder. The movie leaves it at friendship.

Finally, the movie has an emotional conclusion that drives the movie's rating higher in my view. I won't spoil the ending. Suffice it to say that James decides to surf a powerful storm wave as young Nico watches from the beach. The climax features a video review of the boys' adventures together accompanied by a stirring piano composition by Matthew Ly...one ever-so-slightly reminiscent of Pachelbel's Canon in D.

This movie will leave you in a far different state than you thought you would experience in the early going. Just give it time.

In case you're interested, here is more detail about the key filming locations that I added to this page:

1. NICO PHOTOGRAPHED WITH PARROTS. At the start of the movie, Nico is photographed wearing Hawaiian garb and holding four parrots in downtown Honolulu's famous International Market.

2. FIRST VIEW OF OCEAN. Nico's first view of Waikiki beach takes place along the walkway in front of the Royal Hawaiian Hotel at this Google Earth location: 21 16 35.86 N 157 49 46.48 W

3. FIRST SWIM. Nico's first swim takes place at the foot of the Rainbow Tower on the beach that separates the ocean and the Duke Kahanamoku Lagoon at this Google Earth location: 21 16 53.65 N 157 50 21.96 W

4. MEETING JAMES. While body-boarding for the first time, Nico accidentally snakes a wave from a local and is confronted on the beach as James steps in to protect him. The boys' chance meeting takes place just below the pier at the head of Kapahulu Avenue at this Google Earth location: 21 16 15.79 N 157 49 23.63 W

5. PINEAPPLE EATING SCENE. The boys eat pineapple at the edge of a Dole Plantation field located along the Kamehameha Highway at this location: 21 31 9.63 N 158 3 52.30 W

6. CAVE SCENE. The scene where Nico hurts his foot in a cave and is carried out by James takes place at the Kaneana Cave, also known as the Sharkman Cave, located along the Farrington Highway on Oahu's western shore at this location: 21 31 12.11 N 158 13 39.32 W. (James alludes to the shark man as the boys enter the cave.)

7. WATERFALL SCENE. Nico and James swim and play in a waterfall at Kapena Falls located in northwestern Honolulu at this Google Earth Location: 21 19 30.88 N 157 50 45.21 W

8. RAFTING AND SKINNY-DIPPING SCENE. The rafting and skinny-dipping scenes take place on the Kualoa State Park Beach at a small point at precisely this Google Earth location: 21 30 30.52 N 157 50 19.15 W.

9. FINAL SURF SCENE. At the end of the movie, James tackles the storm surf at Mokuleia Beach on Hawaii's famous North Shore at this Google Earth location: 21 34 57.33 N 158 11 29.07 W

For My Brother (2014)

An emotionally-charged story of familial child sex abuse

[8/10 · 4 July 2016]

"For My Brother" (in Danish, "For Min Brors Skyld") is a full-length film that tells the story of a 17 year-old boy named Aske who is sexually abused and exploited for pornographic films by his unemployed father, Lasse. More importantly, it is the story of Aske's dedicated effort to protect his 12 year-old brother, Bastian, from a similar fate.

At the outset, let me say that this movie is not for the emotionally faint of heart or the seeker of warm "fuzzies." It is an emotionally-wrenching depiction of the all-too-real problem of familial child sex abuse. The role of Aske, age 17, is played by a winsome 22-year-old blond actor named Elias Munk-Petersen. Munk appears shirtless or fully naked repeatedly, though the frontal nudity is fleeting and his two overt sex scenes are simulated. In the context of this film, however, the nudity is hardly gratuitous for it lies at the heart of the boy's vulnerability which is nowhere more evident than the scene in which Aske is unexpectedly abused by adult males.

The movie does not lack for spectacular locations. It is shot in downtown Hillerød, Denmark, on the hilly west coast of Langeland Island, Denmark, in southern Sweden, and in the fjords of coastal Norway. Nor does the movie lack for plot, breathless drama, or emotionally-charged acting. The movie is about the very real pain suffered by sexually abused children, and the acting—especially that of Munk's Aske and Allen Karlsen's Lasse—is purely extraordinary.

You will not find a young male actor more adept at conveying fear and vulnerability than Elias Munk in the role of Aske. The terror on his tear-streaked face after he finds Bastian's underwear next to his father's bed in an empty house is purely haunting. Munk is a serious actor with New York Film School background and a healthy filmography, and he carries this film from start to finish. He's a mature 22-year-old playing a powerless and frightened 17-year-old, and he pulls it off masterfully.

As for Allan Karlsen's role as Lasse, well...you hate him. You fear him. You want him dead, although, as is typical in familial abuse cases, his kids do not. Put another way, Karlsen does a great job of acting too. I only hope he doesn't suffer the fate of Faye Dunaway who had great difficulty separating herself from her portrayal of a wire hangar-wielding Joan Crawford in "Mommy Dearest." Kudos also go to young Christopher Friis Jensen, who does a touching job in his only acting credit as younger brother Bastian, and to Oliver Bjørnholdt Spottag who plays Aske's concerned friend, Silas.

The only drawback in this movie is some questionable camera work. Much of the movie appears to be shot with a hand-held camera, and the image shakes to the point that it occasionally becomes almost dizzying. I don't understand this, because it doesn't match the quality of the plot, acting, and locations. It's not that hard to keep a subject centered with smooth camera movement, and digital image stabilization has been around for more than a decade.

I give this movie a thoughtfully-reached 8 stars. As a major full-length motion picture, it probably would be a 5 or 6, but it has the flavor of a short film and features many first-time actors. In that genre, it easily rates an 8 or 9 for its drama and emotion. With the camera work being a little spotty, I settled on an 8. (Its IMDb rating is 7.0 out of highest-ever rating of 9.3.) The acting supports these consistent ratings, and I most definitely recommend the film to anyone with the emotional armor to watch kids suffering under enormous stress. This is not a movie that leaves you as it finds you.

The Pack (2013)

An amazingly intense Danish short film

[8/10 · 27 June 2016]

PARTIAL (BUT NECESSARY) SPOILER ALERT: This movie is available on the Danish Filmskolen web site, but without subtitles. I watched it the first time without subtitles and enjoyed every minute. Later, Lukas Toya, one of the film's co-stars, kindly sent me a version with subtitles, and I saw that I had missed very little. So, I will tell you just enough to keep you on track without subtitles, but I will not reveal critical elements of the film.

PLOT: As Danish boys battle on a muddy soccer field, a chant and drumbeat rise from the sideline as the home team tries to encourage its star, Peter, clearly the team's alpha male. When injury sidelines a teammate, a young new player, Lasse, is told to don the sweaty jersey of the fallen starter. In the waning moments of a tie game, Peter kicks the ball to a streaking Lasse who scores on a header and becomes the team's newest hero.

Soon after, the drummer beats out a cadence in the shower room as a naked Peter and his teammates pound their chests and chant "Beer and P-ssy!" as a somewhat intimidated Lasse looks on. Later, the coach walks through the locker room and pronounces most players "idiots," his way of saying "you're not starting." Lasse is spared. He will wear the coveted starting jersey.

As night falls, the team parties with its female following and celebrates its new hero, all to the driving beat of Melody Club's stirring song, "Electric." Here, Lasse makes a critical mistake. He talks to beautiful Anja, Peter's love interest. From this point, the movie takes a decidedly dark turn, starting with Lasse's hazing (falsely proclaimed by Peter to be a team right-of-passage) and culminating with a confrontation of high drama. You won't need subtitles to figure it out. And you won't stop watching.

The final minute of the film, set in the morning, is clever too, for its meaning rests with you, the viewer. Is it a moment of escape and freedom? Is it a moment of earned respect and commitment? That is up to you.

The movie is written and directed by Klas Marklund and stars two fit, winsome, and talented actors--Lukas Toya as the dominating Peter and Sonny Lindberg as the quiet young newcomer, Lasse.

EVALUATION: I gave it an 8. The movie is only 26 minutes long but is eminently re-watchable, and steeped in rising intensity. The movie has a genuine feel, too, because the actors were given relative freedom.

Finally, the movie makes superb use of both music and darkness.

RATING: The movie would probably rate an R (for Restricted) because of an early shower scene that features full rear and frontal male nudity. The frontal nudity lasts only a second, however, and the scene is neither sexual nor gratuitous. Rather, it is a testosterone-laced moment that drives the remainder of the film. The movie also features mildly graphic physical violence.

WHERE TO WATCH: http://www.filmskolen.dk/

Click Presse, then Afgangsfilm, then Fiktion, then 2013.

If you want the subtitled version, you might try contacting the school:

[e-mail]

Operation Daybreak (1975)

filming and real locations from Operation Daybreak

[7/10 · 27 January 2016]

This movie is a dramatic recounting of Operation Anthropoid, the true name of the successful joint British-Czech-Slovak operation to assassinate Reinhard Heydrich, Reich Protector of Bohemia and Moravia, chief architect of the Holocaust, and the so-called "Butcher of Prague," on May 27, 1942 (death on June 4). The movie has been praised by historians for its accuracy and its use of actual sites (except the assassination site which was changed). If you are interested in history, this movie is for you.

The purpose of this review is to point out both real sites related to the assassination and also key filming locations used in the movie. (All coordinates are ready to copy and paste into your Google Earth search box.)

1. Heydrich's Mansion (real): The actual mansion that Heydrich used as his home during his rule in Prague is the Penanske Brezany in Klicany, six miles north of Prague. The mansion is visible at 50 12 46.69 N 14 26 13.64 E.

2. Assassination Site (real): The precise location of Heydrich's car at the moment of the real assassination, the so-called Anthropoid Curve, is 50 7 4.25 N 14 27 50.55 E. Bear in mind that the road system has totally changed since 1942, but part of the road that Heydrich's car proceeded down as it approached the turn is still in existence and can be seen at 50 7 7.60 N 14 27 48.11 E, though it now dead-ends before reaching the assassination site. The curve of the old road basically followed the interior of the curve still visible today.

3. Assassination Site (filming): Because of the changes there, the real Heydrich assassination site was not used in the film. Instead, the assassination scenes were filmed at the bend of Radlicka Road in the Radice district of west Prague. That bend is located at 50 3 46.16 N 14 24 17.24 E. While the road used in the movie for Heydrich's approach to the corner is now basically a shorter ramp off of a new highway and the corner of the building that Anthony Andrews (playing Jozef Gabcik) hid behind has been changed, the site can be confirmed by comparing the Street View of the building on the opposite (south) corner with the building visible in the background at 1:00:14 of the movie (just after Andrews's machine gun jams and he runs, chased by the man playing Heydrich's driver).

4. Chase of Gabcik (filming): Andrews's running scenes were filmed on Ke Koulce Street just south of the Radlicka corner. The doorway he tried to duck into is located at 50 3 43.80 N 14 24 14.63 E. Andrew's run ends as he kills the driver at the bend of the clearly visible footbridge over the railroad tracks immediately east of the Radlicka corner filming site.

5. Town Square (filming). Multiple scenes in the movie make use of the Old Town Square, including the end of Timothy Bottoms' long flight by bicycle after the assassination. The lamppost where he parked his bloody bike is at 50 5 11.91 N 14 25 14.10 E.

6. Final Crypt Scenes (real and filming): Final scenes of the movie in which the assassins are trapped in a crypt under Saint Cyril and Methodius Church in Prague were filmed at the actual church. The vent used by the German soldiers to inject smoke and water into the crypt is the actual vent and is now a street memorial to the assassins. The vent is located at 50 4 33.12 N 14 25 0.93 E. (The battle scenes inside the church were filmed in an accurate studio recreation of the sanctuary, and many crypt scenes were filmed in a studio recreation as well.)

The Class (2007)

A hidden gem, capturing the essence of a huge problem

[10/10 · 17 September 2013]

Remember your teen years? Remember the emotional trauma, the desire to be popular, the need to conform, the bullying? In Klass (2007), director Ilmar Raag and more than a dozen youthful actor-writers have created an Estonian indie masterpiece well deserving of its lofty 8.1 IMDb ranking.

Twenty year-old Pärt Uusberg (his first name is pronounced PAIRt) plays the role of Joosep, a bullying victim in an Estonian high school. Vallo Kirs, 19, plays Kaspar, the only classmate who comes to Joosep's aid. The two Estonian actors turn in emotional and intense performances given their ages and limited acting experience. While Joosep looks more like a kid who would be popular in school, his quiet, brooding nature well serves the role of a student victim. Kaspar's initially hesitant assistance to Joosep renders his role realistic as well. Picked on by his entire class, Joosep suffers primarily at the hands of class bully, Anders, played by Lauri Pedaja, 20. A hairdresser by profession, Lauri brings Anders to life as a classically insensitive, aggressive bully. If you went to high school, you probably knew someone like Anders.

As Joosep and Kaspar become closer, the bullying becomes increasingly violent and cruel, culminating in an act of forced sexual depravity that was filmed suggestively, but not graphically, just 100 meters south of the Stromka White House, a recreational facility on Stromka Beach in Tallinn. The horrendous abuse drives the boys to a vengeful and tragic decision that plays out in the brutal final scenes of the movie. The brilliance of Klass lies in the conflict the film creates, leaving the viewer torn between sympathy for its lead characters and revulsion for the choice they make.

My only complaint is the director's decision to divide the movie into chapters. The musical interludes associated with chapter changes interrupt the flow of the movie, and the chapter titles do nothing to advance viewer understanding or anticipation. This is a minor issue, however, and some may find the interruptions artistically attractive.

Amazingly, Klass has never been released in the United States, and the DVD is available only in PAL/Region 2 format at a pricey $24. DVD-Rom drives in American computers are set to play the NTSC/Region 1 disks commonly sold in North America, and the region settings can only be changed a very limited number of times (usually 4). Despite this, I was able to view the movie without changing my region settings by simply opening the disk in VLC, a popular freeware media viewer. I'm not sure if this will work for everyone.

I found Klass similar in mood, theme, and intensity to Mandragora, a 1997 Czech indie film that follows two boys as they are forced into a life of drugs and male prostitution in Prague. As between the two movies, however, I feel that viewers will identify far more readily with the painful experiences so ably depicted in Klass.

KEY FILMING LOCATIONS (GOOGLE EARTH COORDINATES):

1. SCHOOL: Scenes near Joosep and Kaspar's school were filmed in front of the Tallinna 32 Keskkool at 59 24 37.55 N 24 41 42.48 E. (The location is confirmed by comparing Street View with the scenes.)

2. WALK HOME: Joosep and Kaspar first talk while walking through a grassy power company easement. They walk past an electrical tower located at 59 24 46.64N 24 41 44.53 E. (The location is confirmed by comparing Street View with T-shaped vents and a tapered smokestack visible in the background of the scene.)

3. FIGHT SCENE: Joosep is beaten up by his classmates in the paved lot next to the Electrum Trading Company. The lot is located at 59 25 2.90 N 24 41 5.17 E. (The location is confirmed by the yellow building to the north, the grassy boundaries on the west and north sides of the lot, the white quonset hut to the south, the above-ground steam line to the south, and the small building to the southwest of the lot.)

4. FORCED SEX SCENE: The forced sex scene was filmed on Stroomi Beach at 59 26 30.60 N 24 41 0.09 E. (The location is confirmed by the unusual architecture of the Stromka White House visible in the background of the scene.)