Pure (2009)

Sadly Over-hyped

There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

The movie really just wants to entertain people.

Alicia Vikander's is stunning. Her highly intuitive, effortless and evocative acting talent reminds me in some ways of Jennifer Lawrence in "Winter's Bone." Or Frida Hallgren or Helen Sjöholm in "As It Is in Heaven" (Så som i himmelen).I could have imagined the movie going in several different directions –– and I did, and wondered throughout. For a more "feel good" experience, I might have preferred a couple of them. Still, it's an intriguing and thought-provoking little movie and well worth the time and effort. Some pretty big lose ends notwithstanding.Good acting throughout.Bravo!

Pure (2010)A stunning performance by young actress Alicia Vikander and intelligent direction (and strong writing) from Lisa Langseth makes this Swedish film a must see.When 20 year old Katarina finds an escape from her troubled life in a symphony hall, life turns completely around. And she almost keeps up with the change. But her naivite and powerlessness get in her way, as more powerful or misdirected people in the symphony read her signals the wrong way. That simple set up is all Vikander needs to make her character writhe and shine and fall into despair on screen. It's psychologically tough, beautifully filmed, paced with a sense of importance. I really liked this all around. The story does in ways fall into a familiar power dynamic between older man and younger woman, and so there is by the end something missing there. But other aspects compensate, and Vikander makes small details revelations throughout.

It's hard to criticize somebody's good intentions. But in this case I'll make an exception. This film is not very good. When you receive some of the highest awards from the Swedish film academy, you expect something spectacular. You don't find it in this film. Written, produced and directed by women, this film is meant to express an honest depiction from a female perspective. You don't find that either. Instead we get a very naive and dated (i.e. unoriginal) story that tells us that men are pigs that abuse and exploit women. Really, I didn't know that... The worst part is the extremely unoriginal screenplay that includes such Swedish classics such as: suicide, alcoholism, prostitution, depression, working class misery, nudity and melancholia.If this was the BEST screenplay that year, I'd love to see the worst ones.The writer's intentions might be sincere but far from original and very, very naive.Perhaps this was meant to be a children's movie?Or maybe it was all just a dream.I don't want to rant, but could somebody please show these creatives some good political female oriented movies? Norma Rae, Network, The Piano....Or perhaps the writer's intention is to say that a young woman, who feels upset after having had an affair with a married man, and being left by him, and unjustly terminated (from her trial employment), has the right to KILL that man (pig, oppressor) - and get away with it.Perhaps this movie is genius after all.Or maybe not.

Things like music, poetry, philosophy etc are essential details of this film, but otherwise have nothing to do with its theme.That theme is the corruption of innocence. Which puts it in company with other films like "The Go Between", "Rosetta", "Mouchette" or "Lord of the Flies", but "Pure" is realistic rather than romantic. The director, Lisa Langseth, probably has much in common with Anthony Trollope, who was once described as "compared to Trollope, even Balzac is a romantic".The entire film depends on the performance of Alicia Vikander as Katarina, and that performance is flawless, first as a young girl of passion, through her disillusionment, and, at the very last scene, to her "graduation".And special mention should be made of Per-Eric Winberg's music soundtrack, both his own compositions and those he selected from other composers are first class.