from film movement

On behalf of Film Movement, you and a guest are cordially invited to attend a screening of the Norwegian Academy award winner for Best Picture—KING OF DEVIL’S ISLAND. This edge-of-your seat thriller from Norwegian filmmaker Marius Holst is based on the real-life story of a notorious reform school uprising in 1915 that forever altered the way juvenile delinquents are thought of and treated in Scandinavia. An official selection at the Rotterdam, Seattle and Edinburgh International Film Festivals, where it won a Best Breakthrough Performance Award for its young lead actor, KING OF DEVIL’S ISLAND stars Berlin Silver Bear award winner for Best Actor Stellan Skarsgård (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo; Good Will Hunting)unting). KING OF DEVIL’S ISLAND will open at Cinema Village on Friday, November 18th, 2011, to be followed by a national theatrical release. The film will also be available nationwide on cable VOD starting December 2nd; look for it on Time Warner Cable, Comcast, Cox, Cablevision and others in the ‘In Theaters’ folder.

This true story of the infamous Bastøy Boys Home correctional facility in Norway begins with the arrival of seventeen-year-old Erling (Benjamin Helstad), a rumored murderer. He immediately clashes with the island facility’s governor (Stellan Skarsgård), who believes manual labor, rigid discipline, and harsh punishment are the only methods that can turn the boys into honorable members of society. Refusing to accept the constant abuse, Erling slowly rouses the rest of the boys out of their resigned existence, and encourages them to fight to lift up their spirits. When tragedy finally falls at the hand of the sadistic dorm master, Erling leads his comrades in a courageous and vicious rebellion that will bring them head to head with no less than the Norwegian Army.

This is a story that had been germinating in Marius Holst’s mind for a long time. He was inspired to film KING OF DEVIL’S ISLAND after speaking to a man who had been one of the boys on the island during the uprising. From first learning of the tale, in his words, Holst “felt this was a story that begged to be made into film….[one that was] an epic and thrilling European drama, with both the tough, physical action of the story and its intimate portraits of the group of boys.” KING OF DEVIL’S ISLAND is both a personal film about a group of children changing their fate, as well as a universal story of the dangers of authoritarian regimes, isolated and unchecked by society at large.

For more info visit the Film Movement site here