Gjengangere

I just came from the screening and was absolutely blown away by the movie! This movie grabs your attention from the beginning and keeps you engaged till the end. There is not a single dull moment in the entire movie. The credit goes to the captain of the ship Leon Bashir. He is the writer, producer, director and the lead protagonist. Leon Bashir not only manages to pull it off but also makes sure that the other characters also get their ample timeshare in the film.

The performances are remarkable! The film belongs to Leon Bashir. His performance as Josef is flawless! There are so many different emotions that his character has to go through and he manages to pull those off flawlessly. A truly gifted multi talent!

Farrakh Abbas as Omar is excellent! The brilliance of his portrayal is that he conveys so many emotions without dialogue, he uses his entire body language and not only his face. Easily one of the best actors we have today! Kim Sørensen as Lille Hitler lends good support and delivers a good performance. Same goes to Rune Temte and Sheban Hussain who're both in top form. Bibi Razia as the mother leaves a strong impact although she only has two scenes in the movie. Lene Nystrøm does a fine job. The rest of the supporting cast supports the film really well especially Arben Bala and Habib Manzoor. They're both charismatic as the gang members.

Arne Garvang as Henrik Ibsen is mesmerizing and hypnotic. He's brilliant. Sadly this became his last film because he passed away this year.

The two debut performances by Salem Zina & Marius are well enacted considering the fact that this is their first film. And the technical department is good. The music and camera work is excellent!

On the whole Leon Bashir proves that he's probably the best multi talent in the Norwegian film industry today. A versatile showman! This movie entertains and gives the audiences a strong message. A Must-see! Truly recommended!!!

I guess this film is watchable if you are able to suspend disbelief and ignore obvious devices used to try and create the story line and tie it all toghether in some way. The inmates are portraid as stereotypical parodies found in other movies of this genre, and have no depth whatsoever (except the main character who sort of have an arc... sort of). The correctional officers behave more unpredictable than a racoon on cocain, and the prison system itself is just a chaotic mess without any form of control or function.

The story itself has been told before, and in better ways, but there is some potential which unfortunatly is left unresolved because of poor writing and character development. Feels alot longer than the 90 min runtime.