Bagland

It's not often you come across a simple story told well. A story that goes nowhere in the traditional sense and quite simply, doesn't need to.

From the opening credits, Baglands draws you into the lives of a group of teenagers taking their first steps on the ladder of independence and adulthood. Centered around the stunning lead actress, Stephanie León it's familiar stuff - experimenting with sex, drugs, racist undertones, battling with their parents and the older generation who don't take too kindly to finding their daughter or younger sibling having sex under their own roof.

Set in modern day Denmark, Baglands doesn't fall into the trap of that clichéd dark and desolate portrayal of social decay usually prevalent in movies dealing with teenagers and drugs.

It also doesn't fall into the trap of *having* to go somewhere. That's one of the things I really liked about this film.

So many films that deal with similar subjects will inevitably drag you down a path for the sake of going down a path. In an attempt to make some profound statement. Baglands doesn't do that. It tells a simple story, very well.

The colours, soundtrack, simplicity in direction and pace of Baglands along with the stunningly beautiful lead (Stephanie León), who completely steals the screen, makes it well worth watching.

After an argument with her alcoholic mother (Sarah Boberg), the teenager Mille Laursen (Stephanie Leon) moves to the room of her boyfriend Kenny (Nicolas Dufour) in a hostel where she befriends the rapper Sami (Christopher Læssø). Mille works in a bakery with Anja (Sofie Helqvist), who also lives in the same hostel, and Kenny is a punk that spends the day plying video game, drinking beer and selling drugs. Soon Mille and Kenny move to an apartment and Mille wants to buy new furniture, but the couple does not have credit to buy it at the store. Meanwhile Kenny becomes more aggressive and Mille gets closer to Sami that invites her to go to the studio for the rehearsal with his band. They have a love affair while Kenny seeks out the dangerous John (Henrik Noel Olesen) to deal furniture with him to please Mille. Now Mille is involved in a triangle of love and she realizes that she needs to make a choice between her two lovers.

"Bagland" is a film about coming of age of a teenager and (bad) choices in love. The beginning is abrupt with poor development of the characters and situation, but a long the story, the viewer knows Mille, her mother, her lovers Kenny and Sami and her girlfriend Anja. The conclusion is the best moment of the film, showing that Mille has grown-up and free from Kenny and Sami. The camera work is not good, with closes like in a soap- opera. The gorgeous Stephanie Leon steals the show with a great performance. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): Not available on Blu-Ray or DVD

The movie wasn't absolutly brilliant, and wasn't too gripping.

However, even though it wasn't the best movie i'd ever seen, i quite enjoyed it. I thought it was good because of: A) The cinematography B) because it addressed quite a lot of issues about teen problems

It was also interesting because I love seeing foreign films and looking at different cultures. I went to see the film as part of a film festival where I live, it was the first film to be screened.

It got me hooked in the first 5 mins, but I kinda lost my attention after a bit. There was no real story, or buildup, but the characters were very believable, which made up for the lack of major story.

The way it was filmed also made up for the lack of plot. I loved the camera work, it was almost like watching a day in the life of Millie, like she was a real person.

The ending to the film was quite sudden, but had a nice lead into the credits.

The only confusion I had was why the film was named "Scratch" (Danish=Bagland, translated to Scratch in English).

The film is probably most appealing to teenagers who have had problems (thats all of us right??) but problems in the specific areas of say sex/drug abuse/violence.