The Ape

This is not the regular movie. Not in any way.

Some other review i read here, should add SPOILER on top, since some talk about the ending of the movie.

A man wakes up bloody, we don't know why or what has happened to him. He washes off and go to work. During the day we find out what has happened.

And this is hurtful to know as a viewer of the movie. Its painful and dark.

Olle Sarri, who in Sweden otherwise is known as a comedian working on television does in this movie a remarkable appearance as the ape. And why this is, is probably cause the character was mostly improvised. Some parts of the character were of course written down, but i know Sarri got a lot of freedom to create the character on set.

I have seen this movie several times. The first time i wondered what crap this was. But as someone said, the movie does not leave your head. I watched it again (knowing the whole plot), and i liked the movie.

Now i love the movie, and have seen it several times.

I put on this movie without having read a single word about it, something that helped elevate "Apan" over almost everything I've seen so far this year. I never saw Jesper Ganslandts debut "Farväl Falkenberg" either, so I did not know anything about this up and coming swedes intentions with getting in to the movie business until yesterday. What he has accomplished with "Apan" is capturing the main character Kristers, Played by Swedish actor Olle Sarri, total nervous breakdown. You can feel the tone set by Ganslandt from the very first frame, and that's only the start of a descent towards the absolute darkest depths of the mind acted out with perfection by Olle Sarri.

If I were to compare what I experienced with this film to something else, the closest work would be Gaspar Noés "Enter The Void", in how the audience gets forced in to a character by means of filming and lack of added sounds and music. 20 minutes in, I felt the emotions portrayed by Olle Sarri, and how his decisions actually mattered to me. You become the broken individual on screen.

If you are interested in seeing a fantastically well perceived narrative of a broken mans broken life, this is for you. If you are susceptible to this kind of film, you will feel as empty and broken as the subject of this portrayal when you're done.

This film was interesting, but extremely disturbing. Obviously that was intentional. We are never told the "why" of anything that takes place, except for some rather lame allusions.

This is not a film for the average viewer looking for a well explained, believable plot. Au contraire. This plot is intentional chaos.

There are movies you will remember through your whole life, almost every second of them. These films aren't always good, not if you ask your tasteful experienced mind. But you can't get them out of your head.

This is such a movie. It's about a very disturbed man. Probably he has done something terrible, but you can't be altogether sure. This is not about the action which has been and is to come, it's about a state of mind.

Olle Sarri is absolutely splendid and I haven't seen such a performance in a Swedish movie for quite long. He doesn't make you feel good and the film has absolutely no intention to do that for you. But you can anyway don't get it out of your head.

I have rated this film 7/10, but I'm honestly not sure I would recommend it to anybody. It left me feeling uneasy and a bit sad. However, is that not the hallmark of a good film? One that evokes strong feelings?

The film leaves some unanswered questions, such as what drove the protagonist to do what he did. Though, it is unclear if he even knows.

It is apparent that he has had some sort of a breakdown and that he is lonely. However, some of his actions don't fully make sense, but then perhaps they're not supposed to, to the rational mind. I think the bleakness of Scandinavia in what must be early spring or late autumn adds to the depressing ambience.

Gabriel Millsom.