The year is 1915, and sailor Erling (Benjamin
Helstad) has been shipped off to Christian reform school on Devil’s
Island off the coast of Norway. There the governor Bestyreren (Stellan
Skarsgård) rules over a community of boys punished with hard labour and
abused by the people supposed to care for them.
After six years of obedience Olav (Trond Nilssen) is set to be released
in a few weeks, but being exposed to Erling’s scorn for the island and
its rules – the first thing he does is plan an escape, even if no-one's
successfully left the island before – opens his eyes to just how
inhumane the system he's become a part of is, and when the abuse one of
the boys is suffering becomes obvious he's torn between finally being
freed and standing up for what he knows is right.
This isn’t an over-the-top tale by any means. Instead it’s a picture of
a life that crushes by constant low-level brutality and cruelty without
cause or reason.
The bleak, snow-covered island is a perfect
setting for this grim
existence, while the cast is excellent throughout – Helstad is perfect
as a thug who’s blunt views on life prove to have merit, while Nilssen
is just as good at showing his character’s growing moral awakening.
Grim tales of a child’s harsh up-bringing aren’t hard to find on film,
but this one stands out for all the right reasons.
It’s hauntingly effective.
4 out
of 5
King of
Devil's Island Australian release: 3rd May,
2012 Official
Site:King of Devil's Island Cast: Stellan Skarsgård, Benjamin
Helstad and Kristoffer Joner Director: Marius Holst
