Speak Up! It's So Dark... [VHS]
by Suzanne Osten

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VHS Movie Reviews of Speak Up! It's So Dark... [VHS]

Movie Review: Swedish objectivity allows honesty and tenderness
Summary: 5 Stars

S?ren is initially running from his own gang. He takes refuge on a train and meets Jacob (Etienne Glaser), a kindly Jewish doctor who helps S?ren and provides his card--stating that they boy should come and see him the next day. The rest of the movie is made up mostly of conversations bewteen the two. Discussions center around hatred, immigration, racism, and the role of the parental unit in fostering violence in children. Flashbacks give us images of Jacob's tortured youth. The intensity of some of the scenes between the two is spellbinding. Norrthon is simply demonic in his mannerisms. He's so manic and physical--he must always keep his body active during the meetings with the doctor. To me, this suggests an animality that is not properly contained. It isn't under control, something that S?ren fears most of all. One is never quite certain if and when he might go off and do something truly terrible. Norrthon is so dynamic and arresting that he brings a kind of erotic aestheticsm to his performance that cannot be dismissed.

I like this film because it's agenda is subtly effective and doesn't interfere with the story. It is clear that skinhead violence is portrayed pejoratively, but the filmmakers seem more interested in presenting a study of the intricate psychological forces that have influenced the international neo-nazi/fascist uprising amongst the youth. Sweden is just one country that has been affected by the inevitable backlash by various groups against policies of increased immigration.

Ultimately, there are no cheap solutions offered in this film. There are debates about the factuality of the Holocaust--a most thorny subject, for sure. Yet, the film doesn't dwell on this obvious point of contention between the young Nazi, who identifies with cleanliness and order, and the Jewish doctor, who fled Nazi Germany as a boy. His boat came to Sweden and so he bacame Swedish. This is something that S?ren respects, after a fashion. It is all the other filthy, dangerous immigrants who are the real problem facing a once racially pure Sweden.

5/5

Summary of Speak Up! It's So Dark... [VHS]

Sweden Video

• Genres > Art House & International > By Country
• By Original Language > Swedish
• Drama > By Theme > Generation Gap
• Psychological Drama
• Redemption