pellegrino

This is Carl Hamilton at his best. It may not be Stellan Skarsgård at his best (comparing with movies like Breaking the Waves), but he's doing a good job here too. I would actually say that Stellan Skarsgård IS Carl Hamilton, in more or less the same way as Sean Connery IS James Bond. None of the other actors playing him in the later movies quite reaches his level - they are, of course, also working with scripts not even half as good as this one.

The movie in itself explores the difficult feelings of an agent infiltrating and more or less becoming part of a terrorist organisation. Their methods may be ugly, yes even horrible. But the purpose of their actions? It's action with a nice enough twist, making it entertaining AND interesting.

If there is one thing originating from Denmark that the world can be thankful for, it's the Dogma 95. Although the rules are more or less constantly broken by the directors, it has served it's purpose well - inspiring the creativity to new levels. The Dogma provides the movies with an injection of reality. Through (e.g.) the hand-held camera, the more or less nonexistent soundtrack, the lack of special lightning and the fact that the actors actually carry their own clothes, you get a feeling of authenticity that very seldomly (if ever) appears in the standard big-budget-movie.

To the film: It's a story about friendship, about finding someone to trust or even love. Most of the main characters have different emotional problems, giving them problems with normal social relations - something that we all can relate to in times of crisis. They all use the Italian language course as a way to meet someone, nurturing a hope for closeness. The different Christian symbols and themes also give the film depths that might not be so easily seen, watching the movie for the first time. One might be a bit disappointed that the main story is a bit simple - but take another look, and think a step further. It will give you a rarely experienced insight into man and religion.