I saw four films today at the Scandinavian Film Festval held at the WGA! I saw 3 great dramas and 1 bad horror movie.
My favorite is the Swedish "Call Girl" (dir. Mikael Marcimain) -- a true account of the lurid and explosive sex scandal that rocked Sweden involving the highest officials of the government during the late 70s. It's easily the most accomplished of the four, filmmaking-wise, that is. 
I also enjoyed the the curiously titled "Mother, I Love You" (dir. Janis Nords) from Latvia -- a heartwarming drama about a boy who is struggling with his relationship with his mom and his tendency to solve his juvenile mistakes with equally juvenile solutions... 
Finland's "The Disciple" (dir. Ulrika Bengtsin), set in an island during the late '30s, is an allegorical tale of a family's suffering from the abusive treatment of their patriarch -- the film's photography is so beautiful and painterly!
Iceland's "Frost" (dir. Reynir Lyngdal) is my least favorite of the four movies. It is another variation of that lazy found footage genre that, to its credit, managed to elicit considerable thrills but failed to deliver the suspense it tried so hard to build --- halfway through the movie, i was wishing for Olaf or Elsa to show up and belt those memorable "Frozen" songs! The location where they shot the movie is breathtaking however.
SFFLA runs until today January 26th. It runs annually during winter.
XXX
Raymond Lo
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