Simon & the Oaks

Somehow, despite all the formal quality, I felt like I was watching a failed gruppensex video where the actors are unable to get to the right place at the right time for it to happen. And by the halfway point, I was getting really, really bored. (14/10/2013)

Even if I didn't know that the film was an adaptation of the novel, the film would make it known nonetheless. It is clear that the screenwriter tried to maintain a rough literary structure with a lot of relational nuances, but the result is roughly such that the characters act like mere sketches, the narrative is full of seemingly redundant digressions, and for most of the runtime, it is not clear what is going on and what the central theme is. I'm guessing that Fredriksson's masterpiece is a bildungsroman, but Lisa Ohlin tries in vain to make Simon into the strong center of the storytelling. There are simply so many of these motifs and twists and digressions, and it turns out that this is a rather cultivated mess overly burdened by the director's love for sharpened lyrical symbols. It amounts to film-compulsory reading, a collection of various visual clichés that rarely become truly full of life. It does not offend, but it also does not entice, and it does not succeed at creating credible development of the protagonist at all. Average. (04/06/2013)

This film is very good for quite a long time – approximately halfway through, that is for about an hour. Then the two little boys turninto two youngsters and the atmosphere changes, together with the story and almost everything that made the first part so good. There is, however, one thing that retains its usual quality, and that’s beautiful shots of Swedish sceneries. Those were perfect. It’s too bad that the story is so hare-brained. I don’t remember when was the last time a movie made me shake my head in bewilderment. (02/02/2013)

A touching story about two friendly families living in Gothenburg, Sweden, whose fate is significantly affected by the Second World War. It is quite an interesting relationship entanglement, revolving more or less around Simon, who learns a secret about his origins on the threshold of adulthood. Bill Skarsgård plays an emotionally troubled teenage boy, or rather a brat, really well. He's also the right type for the role. The beautiful natural scenery and sophisticated music add a poetic touch and wonderfully complete the atmosphere. (03/05/2020)