This film is remarkable, shocking, frightening, but most of all it was truthful and made without desire to sensationalise the practice of school bullying. I had to look up Estonia on Google Earth before watching this film; I knew it to be close to Latvia, but then I wasn't altogether sure where Latvia was, other than its proximity to Russia. That such a truthful and shocking film came out of this country is in itself remarkable, but that it was so very well made is even more so.
One of my sons was ritually and regularly bullied in high school (taunted, bashed, called a 'poof') and I watched this confident boy turn into a scared, then cynical and angry adolescent. Whatever I did to stop this happening eventually resulted in an escalation of the bullying. This is the nature of bullies - they are determined to maintain power over others, since without this they perceive themselves as failures.
In "Klass" we never gain any insight into why it is Anders and Paul have chosen dominance and violence as their weapon of choice. It is documented that the bullied often become bullies themselves, so we can only contemplate their possible real reasons for expressing such violent hatred against their 'freak of choice', the sensitive Joosep. The violence escalates as the film progresses, and it becomes clear that those who stand by and watch are probably relieved to not be the one on the receiving end.
This film is very well made. The acting is always believable, the cast well-chosen, and there is little left in the final cut which is not absolutely necessary to the narrative. Visually it is often frightening as the viewer is drawn into each scene, and camera work and editing work are excellent. By the time Joosep and his accomplice, Kaspar, are at a point where they decide to take drastic action, I was feeling as trapped and hopeless as they were.
A must-see for everyone in the Western world. It will shock you, but perhaps that is not altogether a bad thing.
One of my sons was ritually and regularly bullied in high school (taunted, bashed, called a 'poof') and I watched this confident boy turn into a scared, then cynical and angry adolescent. Whatever I did to stop this happening eventually resulted in an escalation of the bullying. This is the nature of bullies - they are determined to maintain power over others, since without this they perceive themselves as failures.
In "Klass" we never gain any insight into why it is Anders and Paul have chosen dominance and violence as their weapon of choice. It is documented that the bullied often become bullies themselves, so we can only contemplate their possible real reasons for expressing such violent hatred against their 'freak of choice', the sensitive Joosep. The violence escalates as the film progresses, and it becomes clear that those who stand by and watch are probably relieved to not be the one on the receiving end.
This film is very well made. The acting is always believable, the cast well-chosen, and there is little left in the final cut which is not absolutely necessary to the narrative. Visually it is often frightening as the viewer is drawn into each scene, and camera work and editing work are excellent. By the time Joosep and his accomplice, Kaspar, are at a point where they decide to take drastic action, I was feeling as trapped and hopeless as they were.
A must-see for everyone in the Western world. It will shock you, but perhaps that is not altogether a bad thing.