The Circle - Chapitre 1: Les élues

I am always sceptical when it comes to the movie version of my favorite books. They leave so many things out and you always feel like the parts missing are so vital to the story, it's a shame they've been left on the cutting room floor. This time they really put the movie business to shame! The casting, the soundtrack, the acting, the special effects...it was all on point. The actors really fit the images I had made up in my head whilst reading the book and the music gave it all an eerie feeling along with some creepy scenic shots of the ghost town of Engelsfors. Go watch it and be ashamed of the fact that you ever doubted people in the film industry will never make a good interpretation of your favorite literature.

The Engelsfors trilogy is my favorite book series, but I didn't have high hopes coming into this. It's a swedish film after all AND it's a fantasy. Something that swedish film industry has pretty much never done. With that in mind I was actually positively suprised by the casting, the special effects and the score.

The characters actually didn't differ much from how I imagined them in the book, and the acting isn't bad from these girls. The special effects actually look very good, especially in the ending scene. The score is also composed by Benny Andersson from ABBA, so this movie could have been great!

BUT

Pretty much every other event from the book has been cut, the dialogues have been shortened and some parts have been changed in ways that I feel are not clearly understandable. And even though the pace was hilariously rushed it's still longer than most movies (2h20min). This made me realize that this book probably isn't suited for film adaptation. Maybe a movie-series would be the right way to go? That way you could cover one book per season.

The process of making this film probably went something like this: Someone wanted to make a movie on this great book. Fair enough. They wrote a reworked script for the movie and realized that they had to cut a lot of stuff. They started filming and only realized once they saw the end result that it was too rushed. That's why I don't blame the people who made this. It was a great initiative, but now we know it was never meant to be.

What makes the book so good is all the small details in their conversations, the interactions between certain members of the group and their internal monologues (which are very hard to translate to film, I understand). You would need a LOT more time to properly express these strengths in video form. That's why a series would be better. It's a shame that this movie turned out so awful, because the books are fantastic. Hope most people watching this had read the book first, otherwise they would be put of from reading them.

So "Cirkeln" is finally here. Since the book is a bestseller and it has been translated in over 20 languages - The film has been hyped in Sweden as "the next big export" after Swedish international success with "Girl with the dragon tattoo" and "Snabba cash". I personally love the novel and was so afraid that the movie would'nt match it's expectations... There was never any need to be nervous about that.

Director Levan Akin has put together an extraordinary cast of young actors whom shows (possibly) the best ensemble performance I've ever seen in a Swedish film. The acting in Swedish films are almost always overacted and too theatrical but not in this one. Irma von Platen (Minoo), Helena Engström (Anna-Karin), Miranda Frydman (Vanessa), Josefin Asplund (Rebecka), Leona Axelsen (Linnea) and Hanna Asp (Ida) does a tremendous job as witches aka The chosen ones, with stand out performances from Platen, Engström and Frydman. I've never in my life seen so good chemistry between actresses in a Swedish film. Akin's smart way of presenting the girls in their respective environments gives the audience a clear look on every girl and you understand they're personal problems as well as their differences.

I must say that Akin's work as director and co-writer with Sara Bergmark Elfgren in this film needs to be praised since i never thought they could take so many characters and actually have them all make a significant input in the film. It is one of those few times you feel that the film adaptation holds the same high standards as the novel.

Cinematography is off the hook as well as sound. And the special effects are actually good and well crafted.

This is a true breakthrough for female actors and it shows once and for all that they are just as bad-ass as any male-hero (like that was ever up for debate). But the guys in this film should not go unnoticed. Gustav Lindh acts with quality in his 5 minutes on screen as Elias. Charlie Petersson shows pretty-boy-stardom as Wille. And Sverrir Gudnasson is just the right choice to play Max.

Overall a 9/10 and without doubt a gamechanger in Swedish cinema!

A Swedish young-adult urban-fantasy-drama based on the first book of the 'Engelsfors' trilogy. If you are a Hollywood films follower, then you would find it a very familiar theme. Except it was not a loud and grand narration produced with the money grabbing agenda. But yes, earning back for what they have spent on it is a very important for any film and sadly it failed on that. Because of too much of dramatisation for a teen film. I liked it because the drama was not a big deal to me. A very refreshing film and nothing like too childish, so even the grown ups can give it a try and have a good time.

Engelfors is a small fictional town in the Sweden and the story revolves around six teenage girls who are the chosen ones by the secret witch society to save the world. All the girls are entirely different and does not like each others. So joining the hands to counter the evil force that's posing a threat for their kind becomes hopeless. Until they understand their full capability and discover who's behind all the strange events. That brings the ultimate battle which is what everyone of us is waiting for, that decides the fate of those girls and to end the first installment.

It was a slow presentation, that's where the problem lies to find the audience for it. Because youngsters won't like the films that lacks its pace, though it was based on them. It was not a visual extravaganza as we have seen in the American counterpart films. Yet the story was very ordinary with the characters close to the actual world except their supernatural abilities. So saving the world means not anything close to 'The Avengers' films, everything here is on a small scale, but properly arranged.

The fate of the sequel was based on the result of this film. It got a mixed response, in that, mine is positive. The film came out from all the obstacles while it was in production, so by seeing it all I don't think they're going to make another film in the series. Surely I want it because I enjoyed it which I consider a very rare type, especially in this theme, unlike where the world cinema is obsessed with graphics and fancy stunt sequences for a similar concept.

"You were born selected. The Magic has always been within you."

It is a very long film which is definitely a drawback for a todays film. Had all the opportunities to go deep into every character to expose their qualities and they did that, yet feels like they should have done more for this kind of runtime. Because in many parts it was a limping development.

From all the above it does not look like a film to watch on the big screen. Maybe a television series would have been a fine idea, but still I'm happy for this because I always choose films over the television series. Mainly for the sound mixing, which are usually have the multiple track digital surrounds where in television, they're just stereo. But for this film, they were just okay as I said earlier, it wasn't a grand film.

I have seen many Swedish films, but not enough to recognise the actors from the local market. I think all the main cast in this was mostly the fresh faces and they have done greatly. An awesome production and wonderful music tracks.

I don't know how it is compared to the source material, but the mysteries behind the deaths were well illustrated. The twist did not surprise me, but surely unpredictable. There are many unexplained theories lies open that is going to be clarified in its follow-ups. But now I have to wait for it which I'm confident that's not going to happen, not anytime soon.

I can't go for the book, because I'm not a reader. So it seems my journey ends here for the 'Engelsfors' trilogy. Better I'll pray for the Japanese or the American version to come. In my opinion, this film was underrated, because people are addicted to the commercial elements which seriously lacks in it. Other than that it deserves respectable status among other films associated with the magic. I'll definitely suggest it, but I don't know how many of you will feel the way as I did. Anyway, I still say go for it.

8/10

I was looking forward to watch a Swedish movie, which I don't do very often. The reason is that Swedish film is known to be.. it's hard to explain, but cringe-worthy is definitely one way to put it. Swedes are pretty awkward in real life, but on film we're even more awkward. A good example of this is to compare the original first Millennium film with the Fincher remake.

I had heard that this movie was good, but it wasn't. FYI i have not read the books.

The villain was disappointing in execution and anything but threatening. I didn't believe for a second that the world was in grave danger.

The acting and dialog was cringe-inducing quite often, in typical Swedish fashion. The movie felt rushed and the lore of this universe was barely explained.

I give it a bonus star for portraying teen life and goth fashion pretty accurately (movies from all countries usually fail at this).