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Under Gottsunda
Sweden 2011
produced by Isberget Produktion
directed by Viktor Johansson
starring Kerim Ashkar, Ibrahim Farran, Vanco Nakev, Lovisa Justusson Lahti, Attitude Dance Crew, Systema, Flexx, Patricia Ghavanini, Parvaneh Ghavanini, Hamid Abshari, Walter Linebäck, Nikol Nikolyan, Meri Tairian, Sergio Markowski, Fotsom Beyne, Gustaf Silenstam, Victoria Eriksson, Matilda Steffner
written by Viktor Johansson, partially based on the books The Dark Sport and Gottsunda, music by Andean Runner
review by Mike Haberfelner
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Gottsunda is a district in Uppsala, Sweden, where almost half of the
inhabitants are of foreign origin, with most of the population living in
public housing projects - and many of them, not only because of their
foreign origin but also because of poor economic and housing conditions as
well as frequent power failure, feel disenfranchised and abandoned by
Sweden as such. So it's no wonder that especially among the young,
subculture spreads like wildfire and into all direction, something most
vividly demonstrated in the almost ritualistic burning cars that pop up
each summer. Under Gottsunda follows several youths of the
region, including two boys who want to leave behind society altogether,
cruising around in their longboards, preferably leading a big gang (they
never attract), two girls who get high all the time who want to turn their
backs on everything altogether and live under the trees, feeding on the
roots, a Macedonian father who teaches his daughter for the time he'll no
longer be there, in a rather martial way, and two guys teaching a military
form of martial arts to those interested - and sometimes going too far in
their demonstrations -, two Palestinian teens building slingshots out of
stolen bicycle tires to channel their frustrations, and the like. Now
Under Gottsunda could have easily become a complete disaster had it
tried to hammer home a message, wallowed in clichées of the
disenfranchised, gone over the top is political correctness, or just tried
to depress the heck out of the audience with its sad content - and none of
this is true for the movie, it light-footedly tells its at best loosely
connected stories, with some humour even in the darkest episodes, it
doesn't try to change the world, doesn't judge or try too eagerly to take
sides, and it's filmed in bright and friendly colours. The outcome is a
film that features a very healthy, engaging, and at times almost poetic
approach to its subject and characters thanks also to its beautiful
camerawork and rather authentic cast. An unusual, but because of that also
very likeable movie!
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