De Ofrivilliga

This film might be the most perfect and realistic piece of naturalism that will ever be done. We are as a viewer positioned different akward voyouristic angles to view a number of typical social situations based on the fear of getting left out and the irreversable consequences this akwardness brings. The amusing factor of this film is very swedish and might be hard for many non-swedish to understand but I think it has a topic that most can relate to. Also the acting and dialogs are 100% flawless

Claimed to be the most original film of 2008 Cannes Film Festival - a doubious praise stemming seemingly mostly from the fact that the director forgot there's a good reason why other films generally show faces of conversing people, instead of their feet or the wall behind which they stand. This originality involves also missing some kind of a plot or a solid theme which would bind individual stories.

Group Psychology and the Analysis of the Ego: The Movie. An attack on conformism and crowd behaviour that does not deny the pleasures it can bring (though for myself, I’m mostly pretty allergic to those kinds of pleasures). Pretty good, though perhaps some of the lessons are still delivered in a slightly stereotypical and conventional way, compared with the filmmaker’s later work.

The uncomfortable, funny and anxious nature of it all makes it a worthy voyeuristic experience of perceived Swedishness (especially as the Swede saw himself in 2008ish). Appreciated the camera work, the script and the actors, but wanted to like it more than I actually did. I don’t think it directly gained anything by telling multiple stories even though none of the stories were inherently bad.

5 thematically related vignettes putting its finger exactly on the right spots of where human interactions universally become questionable; dynamics of peer pressure are at play, not speaking up quick enough leading to awkward dilemma's, overstepping boundaries in every which way, speaking up for yourself and its consequences. I consider the schoolteacher quite the hero; the way she bravely confronts her immature colleagues is an admirable example of assertiveness. Another Östlund winner!

A simple structure that recognizes moral complexities. How the concealed truth may alter realities and have a ripple effect on the human psyche. An interesting observation that is clearly evident in the daily life.

Ruben Östlund har tidigare gjort kortfilmer och det märks. Vi bjuds här på fem stycken och vi växlar mellan dem på ett sätt som förefaller en smula planlöst. Ett gemensamt tema berörs och det uttalas tydligt i en scen så att ingen skall missa det: Filmerna handlar om grupptryck. Men gör de det egentligen? Och vad är det Ruben Östlund vill berätta om grupptryck? Här dissekeras inte några subtila mekanismer som leder till att människor beter sig på ett bestämt sätt. På det he

Top badass moment? Never mind the Higgs Boson, this film has introduced me to the much more remarkable concept of anti-badassness. Its characters are so mind-numbingly ordinary and flawed... Seriously, Batman would feel compelled shoot them all and do the rest of us a favour. Arrrraaggghh! No cats, decapitations or chainsaws.

Very bleak and uneasy comedy about group pressure, social norms and the trappings of things you don't say out loud. Odd structure - half a dozen separate storylines with no ordinary narrative, it mostly looks like a series of unconnected documentaries of everyday life that gradually find common thematic elements and get more intense. Painfully spot-on, with no easy catharsis to let you put it behind you.

http://www.filmjuice.com/director-ruben.html

Amazing cinematography, but it didn't grip me as much as I would have liked.