Solstorm (2007) Reviews

• Weird, but Good Movie

  claudio_carvalho2009-02-27

  While in a party promoted by her chief and friend Måns Wenngren (Jakob Eklund), the fiscal attorney Rebecka Martinsson (Izabella Scorupco) receives a call from her former sister-in-law Sanna Strandgård (Maria Sundbom) telling that her brother and preacher Viktor (André Sjöberg) was murdered, stabbed and with severed hands, and she would be arrested. Rebecka heads to her hometown Kiruna and defends Sanna, but the evidences found by the police in her house prove her guilty and she is arrested. While investigating the crime, Rebecka is haunted by her past and faces the bigoted and fanatic religious dwellers that worship the local church, and is more convinced of the innocence of Sanna. "Solstorm" is a weird, but good thriller with great performances, highlighting the gorgeous Izabella Scorupco, and awesome locations and cinematography in Kiruna (Northern Sami: Giron), the northernmost city in Sweden, situated in Lappland province, that makes the viewer feel cold, no matter where he is. The non-linear screenplay is a little confused but never uses clichés; is very tense and uncomfortable and has an unexpected plot point in the end. My vote is six. Title (Brazil): Not Available

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• Seventy degrees north

  paul2001sw-12008-12-21

  Leif Lindbolm's film is a chilly Nordic thriller, filmed (with striking cinematography) in the far north of Sweden. A religious cult has taken hold of an insular town near the Arctic Circle; a former member, now a successful lawyer, returns home after the death of a priest, initially to help her sister, but she increasingly finds herself involved in the investigation. The atmosphere is tense and claustrophobic, and although (as with most thrillers) the plot is slightly contrived, a tone of realism pervades throughout. Having just seen the Swedish television adaptation of the 'Wallander' novels, I noticed its star, Krister Hendriksson, in a small role here - but whereas those stories are set in a very normal town in southern Sweden, the isolated nature of life in the far north gives 'Solstorm' a very distinctive feeling. Ultimately, it's hard to care too much about the natives, however, who keep their emotions very much to themselves (although the dead man was an interesting exception). But it's still a superior and haunting tale.

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• Fairly mediocre

  fred-832008-03-25

  I was looking forward to seeing this, mostly because I have frequently visited Kiruna, where it was shot, the past few years. Technically there is a solid craftsmanship at work here, the photography is nice and so forth. Still, where it is lacking is in the scriptwriting and directing departments. The storytelling is unfocused, confused and sometimes just plain sloppy. Crucial information is conveyed by jarring use of voice-overs, where it just as easily could have been worked into the dialog. The backstory of the congregation and the charismatic leader is not properly setup and explained, and thus never becomes believable. I get a sense of post-production tinkering, along the lines of "oh, we should explain this or that because we forgot (could't afford) to shoot it...etc". The use of fast cross-cutting between dramatic events, flashbacks etc, is irritating and oftentimes deprives scenes of dramatic potential (possible spoiler: the incident with the dog, for example). Despite the best of intentions, this emerges as a fairly mediocre movie. I have not read the book on which it is based, and if this is anything to go by, I probably will not bother. Isabella does the best she can with the thin material, as well as most of the other actors. All in all, the scriptwriter and director is to blame here.

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• Epihany

  tiatia-12007-11-19

  Although I'm not a religious person myself I was very touched by his film. Yes, I am a stranger to the church and Jesus but I really think that the story proves what can happen when you join any kind of sect or closed community. There is both love and hate, weak minds and strong minds, leaders and followers. Very thought-provoking film this one. Especially the way it dealt with delicate matters like for example the way parents deal with their children and how loyalties between friends can get corrupted over time. And the film music, not to mentions the hymns altogether add an extra dimension to the tight and sweaty drama that is actually taking place in the most northern part of Sweden. A really beautiful and cold place to be. I think the footage really capture this vast and beautiful landscape. Amen!

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• Well plotted, beautiful-looking mystery about small town outcast who returns to solve the mystery of who murdered the charismatic leader of a religious sect.

  BOUF2010-01-11

  A beautiful-looking film set in an icy Scandinavian backwater, where most of the men are evil, or weak, and most of the women are good (as in a lot of contemporary Swedish drama.) The lead character (Izabela Scorupco) is a beautiful young tax lawyer, determined to protect her best friend, who's been accused of murder. Scorupco faces the usual steely-eyed religious bigots, and has to untangle familiar murky secrets, but the plot has some good twists, which are parcelled out in a well paced and-structured way. Ms Scorupco is a bit one note, but she's competent. More interesting is the local detective..she's like someone you might meet in a small town, heavily pregnant, and quietly pragmatic. The solution to most of these murder mysteries seems to be always slightly depressing - destruction seems to be the only recourse of those who try to end their own or someone else's misery. You can't make fritatas without breaking eggs, I suppose.

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