Evil (3 Stars)

This is a film based on a best-selling novel, and it was nominated as Best Foreign Language Film for the 2004 Oscars. It deals with Erik Ponti, a 15-year-old boy who's been expelled from several schools for getting into fights. His parents see only one more chance for him. He's enrolled in Stjarnsberg, an elite boarding school. It's so expensive that his mother has to sell most of her possessions to pay the tuition fee.

Most of the pupils come from the Swedish nobility. The rest come from rich families. Only Erik comes from a (relatively) poor family, but he doesn't tell the others. It's a cruel school in which the sixth form boys rule over the younger boys, making them do humiliating chores like cleaning their dirty football boots. Knowing the sacrifice his mother has made, he makes an effort not to let himself be provoked, but that doesn't mean he gives in. He refuses to do chores, which leads to punishments like detention and not being allowed to go home at the weekend.

It's common knowledge that many boarding schools have a system that the older boys have power over the younger boys, but I've never heard of anything this extreme. The teachers themselves don't discipline the children, they leave it up to the sixth form.

All I can say is that I'm glad I was never in a boarding school. I can be glad that my parents weren't rich enough. I had a good education in Queen Mary's Grammar School, and even now, many years later, I fondly remember my experiences.

Success Rate:  + 2.2

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