After watching "her i naeheden" ,you may find "rain man" hollywoodian ,accomodating and facile ;Dustin Hoffman was a mental arithmetic champion , Thure Lindhart knows the calendar by heart and is an expert in the subject of the movements of the Sun .In a French movie ("le goût des merveilles" ),the autistic hero was in love with the prime numbers .
Thure Lindhardt blows both of them off the screen :he's so realistic, so convincing I thought he was a true autistic guy !Matching him every step of the way is Ghita Norby' s portrayal of an over possessive mom ,who is actually responsible for Brian's behavior ; apart of the time he spends in a holiday camp by the sea (flashback),he only leaves the house to go for a stroll in the park or for soome shopping ; and even during his sojourn ,mom did not want him to mix with the other children. When he watches attractive girls on TV , mom quickly changes channels and he has to make do with a documentary about the kangaroos ( these animals are some kind of symbol :mom keeps his dear one inside a kangaroo pocket). This monstruous mother turns down the help from psychiatrists ,because she really thinks she acts for he son's own good .
On the minus side , there's a tendency to dwell on the sordid side of life ,and the couple of junkies on the first floor, it may be too much ,for such a story does not need a red herring ; these characters are useful in one scene though:along with that of the cigarette in the park ,the sequence of the overdose reveals Brian 's true colors ,which is not an unexpected twist anyway,but which inspires Lindhart's pitiful extremism .
Stark ,utterly uncompromising , the movie may put off some viewers. You must bear in mind that this autistic young man is first a victim of a mother's insane love .
