Varg (2008) Poster

(2008)

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7/10
Big bad wolf?
stensson20 April 2008
Since 1966, the wolf is preserved in Sweden. That's a controversial decision, since it takes its toll from, for instance, the Samis' reindeers. This has grown into a kind of conflict between those who live in the bigger cities in the South and Samis and hunters in the North.

This movie is about the middle-aged man (Peter Stormare), who lives alone in the wilderness, watching the reindeers. His nephew helps him. Then the wolf arrives, attacks the herd, and the plot is on.

This film shows understanding for both sides and you are forced to think and feel for yourself. It's rather obvious what will happen, but still this is told with considerable intelligence. You have seen much worse.
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3/10
Name says it all...
Schnoddas1 December 2008
Warning: Spoilers
In my language wolf has other meanings besides the animal also. In technical speech and especially when talking about manufacture processes we have a "slang-word" for faulty components or pieces; called wolfs (varg). And that is exactly what this movie is also!

When I heard about this movie I thought that this really might be really good and entertaining so I skipped founding out more about it before watching. And with Peter Stormare as one of the main characters verified my high expectations of this film. When I visualized the movie in front of me I got flashbacks from another master piece Swedish movie called "Jägarna", which takes place in quite the same environment as "Varg".

In the beginning the story sets of rather nicely and plot is clear. Amazing scenery and beautiful views as well as excitement. But after the primary act when the wolf gets out of the way, the plot only goes from bad to worse. The behaviour of the characters is many times unnatural. The whole procedure when Klemens (Stormare) gets taken in custody is just a big question mark. Towards the ending the story is just "basic drama" with anxiety and uncomfortable dialogues. The ending it self confirms the fiasco. It leaves so many questions and so few culminations for the viewer that the first though about the whole film is 'oh my god..'

Short conclusion: Amateurish and half-completed. Sad but true.
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8/10
Strong and Simple
Skruttan27 April 2008
The first thing you notice with this film is that it is very beautifully filmed and has very strong music. Then you see Stormare do, probably one of his best roles in his career.

The story is simple, about a man and his nephew living in northern Sweden, driving snow scooters and living next to the rein deers. One night a wolf(varg in Swedish) kills a few of the rein deers and the hunt begins.

This movie is a simple but very strong movie about loyalty and Stormare is partly why you want too see this film. But you can also see it because it is a beautiful bit of Swedish film.
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10/10
More thrilling than a thriller.
kristus-221 September 2008
I watched this movie, expecting it to be a bit droning. And while it's not a fast action movie by any means, I felt so strongly for the main characters in the movie, that every second of the tough scenes were very hard to endure. Hence my summary, "more thrilling than a thriller".

It's a very good movie in my opinion. Showing two sides of a modern Swedish conflict.

Stormare was of course excellent in his role. But a lot of kudos to Robin Lundberg who played Nejla, showing off a young man who finds himself in deeper water than he can handle. As previously stated by other comments, the movie is very beautiful, and you can almost smell the cold air from the snowy mountains. I don't quite know how to formulate this movie, other than I loved every second of it.
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10/10
Right on spot
tobiasfiebig768 January 2011
Most people who have seen this movie live in urbanised areas and will probably not be able to connect to this movie in the same way as we who have to deal with this on a daily basis. I watched it because of Stormare being one of the finest actors.

The movie shows what the Swedish Government prioritises and in this case it is the wolf. Other cases have been reported in Swedish media where farm animal owners got imprisoned for protecting their cattle. It took a few years for the government to realise that this wouldn't hold and they changed the law making it now possible to defend and protect ones cattle from carnivores (even pets).

The movie was shot prior to the legislative change but nevermind this still today our government spends millions for one wolf rather than protecting the people who suffer most. This movie shows the conflict the way we know it as of today and I think it is a shame that not more people abroad have been able to watch it.

I think they succeeded very well by focusing on what in their eyes seemed important. After all, they wanted to get a message across and this they succeed with. All investigation details where not their main concern but the fact that one is treated as if he'd killed a human being is quite concerning.

In my village a hunter shot a wolf protecting a hunting dog and he got treated like a murderer. City lawyers with no connection to nature or rural areas shall judge this person in a couple of month. Fair? This is exactly what this movie is about. It leaves you with this question. Is it fair that one has to lose everything in order to save one wolf?
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just a tale
Vincentiu3 April 2012
a movie like a spider web. many problems, many questions. not very constructed but result is really good.because, out of images and music, it is a deep analyze about right of law, duty, sense of life, accidents and its importance, connections inside family, truth and past, honesty and need of trust.sure, a Swedish story about village life problems. this is the skin. but more than is lucid image of community. so, it is not great. it is just a tale about a man, his nephew, ash of a wolf and few rein deers. and levels of perception about this tale nuances. not emotions, not special effects, not love stories or terrible fight scenes. only a drawing about basic things. but this is seed of its value,
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