Fairy tale as a social and educational drama An unusually good movie. On the one hand, about children and for children, and on the other about adults and adults. Both the main characters - Camilla and Sebastian - are very cute, unconditionally positive characters. Even despite the criminal plot of Sebastian’s line (which is already obvious from the title of the film), the sympathy of the audience does not leave it for a second, coming to the very climax in the end.
Of the main advantages, I mention that the plot develops non-trivially. This film is clearly not one of those, watching which, in advance, approximately imagine what will happen in the next minute. True, at times the storyline seems a little long, but personally it seemed to me that the director deliberately allowed these moments in which the plot stands still, in order to better imbue the viewer with the lyricism or drama of the moment.
A bit about the actors:
Veronica Fleet, who was 9 years old at the time of the film’s release, does not play at all. It just exists in the proposed circumstances so organically that it seems as if this is not a film, but just a camera has watched the story of a real girl. Other child actors are not so good: they clearly play, and in places clearly overplay.
Dennis Storhoi fit perfectly into the role. We must pay tribute to the casting specialists - we picked up an actor with a physically, even pathologically kind face. Sebastian in his performance is simply impossible not to empathize. It seems as if this person has never lied to anyone in his life. It is no wonder that children are drawn to him. His character is a great example of how a formally bad person can be the most beautiful person in reality. And most of the villagers are examples of the opposite. The character of Storkhoy is also strong in that the entire dramatic part of this story falls on him.
Morten Harket, the lead singer of A-ha, played a small, almost wordless supporting role - a pilot named Christoffer - the only person in the village who achieved such career heights. The lion’s share of Russian-speaking viewers who watched the film must have watched it for Morten, as they are A-ha fans. I'm no exception. It is worth warning, perhaps, that Morten’s character takes little screen time, appears only in the last third of the film and has no special significance for the plot. He's seemingly even inserted into the film just to add variety to the character list. However, this idea is refuted in the second film, in which Christoffer is already ideologically important for the plot.
In addition, for this film, Morten sang a wonderful song-soundtrack, written by composer Ragnar Bjerkreim. The song plays a huge role in creating the atmosphere of the film. The atmosphere is absolutely fabulous.
Although nothing supernatural happens during the entire film, on the contrary, all events are quite trivial, but the feeling of unreality, fabulousness of what is happening does not leave throughout the viewing. Because there are no such positive people in real life, such trust and such devotion.
The feeling that what is happening on the screen is very far from reality is several times enhanced by the fact that the action takes place at the very beginning of the 20th century, when there was neither of the two world wars, life was simple and not burdened with technological innovations, villains were textbookly evil, factory directors were caricatured bourgeois (a slight touch of communist propaganda:), cars and airplanes were still a curiosity, and the driver, and especially the pilot, were considered almost the most honorable profession.
10 out of 10
If you want to plunge into an atmosphere of kindness and serenity, generously seasoned with drama and slightly diluted with outbursts of anxiety, sadness, injustice - look for sure. Look for yourself and show the child.