Border (2018)
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | Border |
| Original title | Gräns |
| Country of production | Sweden , Denmark |
| original language | Swedish |
| Publishing year | 2018 |
| length | 110 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 16 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Ali Abbasi |
| script |
John Ajvide Lindqvist , Ali Abbasi, Isabella Eklöf |
| production |
Nina Bisgaard , Peter Gustafsson , Petra Jönsson |
| music | Christoffer Berg, Martin Dirkov |
| camera | Nadim Carlsen |
| cut |
Olivia Neergaard-Holm , Anders Skov |
| occupation | |
| |
Border is a Swedish fantasy - drama from 2018. Director's Ali Abbasi .
action
40 year old Tina works for Swedish customs . In a ferry port between Sweden and Denmark , she checks travelers for smuggled goods. She has a special talent that is useful in her job: she can smell feelings such as fear, nervousness or feelings of guilt and thus purposefully sort out smugglers. A deformed face makes it visually striking. She lives secluded in her own house in the forest, has a noticeably close relationship with nature and often goes for walks in the forest. Animals like foxes and moose behave trustingly towards her. Tina lets the dog trainer Roland and his Rottweiler live with her and lives with him in a platonic, but relationship-like manner. Her increasingly demented father is in a retirement home .
The plot of the film is divided into a professional and a private strand. Professionally, she manages to track down a criminal who has a memory card with child pornography with him. The police became aware of her through this success and asked her to support further investigations into the case. As part of an observation of suspects, she locates an apartment that may be inhabited by pedophiles and actually finds evidence of abuse there.
While at work, she comes across a traveler who looks similarly deformed and shows a noticeable interest in insects. She has him searched, but he has no contraband with him; the searching customs officer informs Tina that the alleged smuggler has no male sexual organs. Tina apologizes to the traveler for the inconvenience, the two exchange some small talk, and the man who introduces himself as Vore expresses interest in moving to a nearby youth hostel . Tina looks for him there and offers him accommodation in the guest house on her property in the forest.
Roland and the neighbors take a critical look at the animal-like guest, but he and Tina get closer and closer until they finally attack each other while walking through the woods. When she is aroused, a penis appears in Tina, which enables her to have sexual intercourse with the Vore equipped with a vagina. After sex, Vore tells her that she is a troll like him. Her actual parents, like his, were kept in psychiatric hospitals and died there; Vore grew up in various orphanages, but Tina was adopted. Tina quickly gains joy in her new identity and the togetherness with Vore, but continues to work for customs and the police. She throws Roland out of the house.
The main culprit of the pedophile ring is supposed to lead the police to the criminal who mediates the abused babies. However, the transport of prisoners has to stop in the forest because of a moose and the main culprit is killed by an unknown person. Tina recognizes Vore in the fugitive.
When confronted, Vore confesses to being the criminal who brought the babies to the pedophile ring. He turns out to be a misanthrope who wants to take revenge on all people for the injustice perpetrated on the trolls. Vore asks Tina to join him and move with him to Finland, where a wild population of trolls is believed to live. But Tina doesn't want to cause harm to other people and allows him to be arrested on a ferry. Vore escapes with a jump into the sea, in which he appears to be killed. Months later, however, Tina receives a package with a live troll baby and a postcard from Finland.
History of origin
The first draft of the script comes from the Swedish writer John Ajvide Lindqvist and is based on one of his own short stories. Abbasi expanded Lindqvist's draft and hired screenwriter and director Isabella Eklöf , who made her debut in 2018 with her crime drama Holiday , which was supposed to bring more "psychological realism" into the script. The casting of the leading actress Eva Melander lasted over 18 months. After she was signed, Melander had to gain 20 kilograms for the role. During the filming, she spent four hours a day in the mask .
Premiered Border on May 10, 2018 in the International Film Festival of Cannes . It was released in France on May 23, 2018. The film was shown at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival , the Jerusalem Film Festival , the Toronto International Film Festival , the New York Film Festival and the German Fantasy Film Festival . It was released in German cinemas on April 11, 2019.
reception
Border received almost exclusively positive reviews. The Rotten Tomatoes review database aggregates 14 reviews to a rating of 93%.
The industry magazine Variety described Border as an "exciting, intelligent mixture of love films, Nordic noir , social realism and supernatural horror that defies and undermines genre conventions" and is "destined to become a cult classic". The magazine sees elements of magical realism in Tina's relationship with the animals of the forest . The only point of criticism from reviewer Alissa Simon was that the multitude of plot elements could overwhelm some viewers. The Hollywood Reporter ruled Director Abbasi "mix supernatural folklore with contemporary social realism to create a universal parable about tribalism, racism and fear of the unknown". The magazine praised the achievements of the two main actors, the cameraman and the mask, but pointed out that social realism and supernatural folklore by nature don't complement each other very well and that the construct of the film is therefore somewhat volatile in some places. The result of a scene in which there is an abrupt switch between the two genres is “funny absurdity”, which the audience in Cannes welcomed. Sight & Sound , the magazine of the British Film Institute , sees Border's “absurd humor” as a strength and emphasizes the embedding of confused folkloric elements in a natural environment as a key aspect of the film. In this context, the magazine expressly praised the work of the special effects team and the mask. Sight & Sound mentioned as a negative that the pedophile subplot falls behind the love story of Tina and Vore in its effectiveness.
At the Cannes Film Festival, Border won the main prize in the “Un Certain Regard” section. The Swedish Film Institute selected the film as the Swedish entry for the category “ Best Foreign Language Film ” at the 2019 Academy Awards. It was nominated for the award by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in January 2019 for the category “Best Make-up and Best Hairstyles”. The film and its staff were nominated for the European Film Prize 2018 in the four categories of Best European Film , Best Director , Best Actress (Eva Melander) and Best Screenplay . Peter Hjorth was awarded the European Film Prize 2018, which was awarded for the first time in the Visual Effects Supervisor category.
Web links
- Border in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Trailer on YouTube (Swedish).
Individual evidence
- ↑ Release certificate for border . Voluntary self-regulation of the film industry (PDF; test number: 184621 / K).
- ↑ ScreenDaily.com: Director Ali Abbasi on how Cannes title 'Border' channels "the experience of being a minority". Retrieved September 16, 2018 .
- ↑ Alexandra Seitz: Review of Border. In: EPD Film Online. March 21, 2013, accessed April 20, 2019 .
- ↑ RottenTomatoes.com: Border. Retrieved September 16, 2018 .
- ↑ Variety.com: Cannes Film Review: 'Border'. Retrieved September 17, 2018 .
- ↑ HollywoodReporter.com: 'Border' ('Gräns'): Film Review. Retrieved September 17, 2018 .
- ↑ BFI.org.uk: Gräns (Border) unleashes a dark Scandinavian folk fantasy. Retrieved September 17, 2018 .
- ↑ Variety.com: Oscars: Sweden Selects Ali Abbasi's 'Border' as Foreign Language Entry. Retrieved September 17, 2018 .
- ↑ Sueddeutsche.de: "Werk ohne Autor" nominated for an Oscar. Retrieved January 22, 2019 .
- ^ Jury Unveils First Eight EFA Winners 2018 . Article dated November 15, 2018, accessed November 16, 2018.