Involuntary (film)

2008 film by Ruben Östlund From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Involuntary (film)

Involuntary (Swedish: De ofrivilliga) is a 2008 Swedish drama film directed by Ruben Östlund, and written by Östlund and Erik Hemmendorff. It is described as "a tragic comedy or comic tragedy", and features five parallel stories with human group behaviour as the common theme.[1] The film is notable for its long takes with no cuts within the scenes. This is related to Östlund's background as a skiing film director, where a cut would only indicate failure. The longest scene lasts for seven minutes.[2]

Quick Facts De ofrivilliga, Directed by ...
De ofrivilliga
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Theatrical release poster
Directed byRuben Östlund
Written byRuben Östlund
Erik Hemmendorff
Produced byErik Hemmendorff
StarringMaria Lundqvist
Leif Edlund
Olle Lijas
CinematographyMarius Dybwad Brandrud
Edited byRuben Östlund
Distributed byAB Svensk Filmindustri
Release dates
  • 19 May 2008 (2008-05-19) (Cannes)
  • 28 November 2008 (2008-11-28) (Sweden)
Running time
98 minutes
CountrySweden
LanguageSwedish
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The film received mainly positive reviews. It has won several awards at international film festivals and was nominated for five Swedish Guldbagge Awards including Best Film, but didn't win in any category. The film was also selected as Sweden's submission for Best Foreign Language Film at the 82nd Academy Awards, but it was not nominated.[3]

Production

The work with the script started already in autumn 2004, when Östlund and Hemmendorff started to write down vignettes on the theme, inspired by or taken directly from their own experiences.[4]

Filming started in the summer 2006. One scene per day was shot during the production, with around 20 takes for each scene, although some scenes demanded far more.[5] The independent stories were shot one at a time, meaning that many of the actors never met before the premiere.[6]

Release

The film premiered on 19 May 2008 at the Cannes Film Festival in the section Un certain regard.[7]

Reception

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Perspective

Critical response

The general reception in Swedish press was positive. As of 14 July 2009 it had an average rating of 4.3 out of 5 based on 24 reviews at the Swedish-language review site Kritiker.se, making it the highest rated Swedish film from 2008.[8][9] An exception was Jan-Olov Andersson at Aftonbladet, who rated the film 2 out of 5 and dismissed it as "Roy Andersson light."[10]

Involuntary has an approval rating of 81% on review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, based on 21 reviews, and an average rating of 6.3/10.[11] Metacritic assigned the film a weighted average score of 74 out of 100, based on 9 critics, indicating generally favorable reviews.[12]

Awards and honours

More information Award, Category ...
AwardCategoryNameOutcome
Brussels European Film Festival[13]Golden IrisRuben ÖstlundWon
Geneva Cinéma Tout Ecran[14]Best DirectorRuben ÖstlundWon
Guldbagge Awards[15]Best FilmErik HemmendorffNominated
Best DirectorRuben ÖstlundNominated
Best ScreenplayRuben Östlund and Erik HemmendorffNominated
Best Supporting ActressCecilia MiloccoNominated
Best CinematographyMarius Dybwad BrandrudNominated
Mar del Plata Film Festival[16]Golden AstorRuben ÖstlundNominated
Special Jury AwardRuben ÖstlundWon
Miami International Film Festival[17]FIPRESCI AwardWon
Milan Film Festival[18]Special MentionRuben ÖstlundWon
Palm Springs International Film Festival[19]FIPRESCI Award for Best Foreign Language FilmWon
Stockholm International Film Festival[20]Audience AwardRuben ÖstlundWon
Best ScreenplayRuben Östlund and Erik HemmendorffWon
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See also

References

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