Ondskan (Evil)
Language - Sweden
Genre - Drama,
**ing - Andreas Wilson, Henrik Lundström and Gustaf Skarsgård
Release - 2003
Language - Sweden
Genre - Drama,
**ing - Andreas Wilson, Henrik Lundström and Gustaf Skarsgård
Release - 2003
Based on author Jan Guillou's best-selling semi-autobiographical novel of the same name, Ondskan (Evil) is a tale of a young 16 year old rebellious teen, standing up against the bullies at a private boarding school. On the surface, Ondskan might appear to be just one of the many films based on high-school bullying, but manages to be a far more matured cinematic presentation than most of it's peers.
Directed by Mikael Håfström, Ondskan (Evil) was a huge commercial and critical success in Sweden. It captured international attention with it's nomination in the Best Foreign Film category at the 2004 Academy Awards, which eventually went to the French Canadian film The Barbarian Invasions. Domestically, it was the winner of three Guldbagge Awards, including Best Film.

Mikael Håfström doesn't shy away from showcasing the horror of these events and tend to be rather graphic at times, adding to the intensity of the film. In the midst of this turbulence, he has the friendship of a nerdy kid Pierre Tanguy (Henrik Lundström) whose friendly advice for Erik is - "be ordinary, don't stick out" and the Gandhian philosophy of taking on the bullies with non-violence. He also finds a mentor in the form of a amicable swimming coach Bergvall (Rustan Blomqvist) who encourages him to channel his aggression to take on the council of seniors in the swimming pool.
