The Real Estate

A real film about real people in real situations - at least until the second half when it totally becomes beserker. Its a great film and showcase for swedish actress Leonore Ekstrand who currently has probably the best chances to win the Silver Berlin bear for her brave and unique performance. A strong performance that pulls everything out of her. The poster is a bit misleading . During the first half the film is a strong social drama with many everyday's aspects. During the second half it turns into something like Kill Bill, which is fun, because that mix absolutey works. Mostly thanks to the work of Ekstrand and also her costar Christer Levin. Its surely not a film for everybody but if you can connect to the lead character its easy to appreciate and enjoy. The film also lives from a great soundtrack and a solid enough screenplay. Was not the biggest fan of the ambitious ending but other than that it worked as a quirky social drama - and in that case it invented a new genre.

Inheriting a run-down apartment building in Stockholm, a woman in her mid-sixties discovers that her relatives have been illegally subletting the apartments, while neglecting their maintenance. She wants to sell the building, but gets entangled in problems which become more surreal and nightmarish as she goes along.

While it's interesting and rare to see an elderly woman take on the sort of role usually filled by Bruce Willis types (the ordinary citizen driven to take the law into his own hands), this isn't enough to keep our interest. The scenes are shot in cinema-verite style with handheld cameras and grainy, almost monochrome closeups, but they are invariably held for too long, making the viewer want to doze off.

The discordant music in the sound track is MUCH TOO LOUD, painfully so. I suppose it is supposed to give you a feeling of immediacy, but instead it makes the whole experience more unpleasant.

Léonore Ekstrand is excellent as the harassed landlady, but she's not enough to make up for the pain and boredom that the film brings on. Still, it's a nice change to see a 67-year-old enjoying sex. It is Sweden, after all.