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King of Devil's Island
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Wikipedia article
'King of Devil's Island' , is a 2010 French-Norwegian action drama film directed by Marius Holst.[http://twitchfilm.com/news/2010/12/second-trailer-for-marius-holsts-youth-prison-drama-king-of-devils-island.php Twitchfilm.com Second trailer for Marius Holsts youth prison drama King of Devil's Island] Retrieved 2. January 2010 The film premiered in Norway on 17 December 2010 and was next shown at the international film festivals of Sweden (January 2011), Rotterdam (February 2011)[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1332134/ IMDb entry] Retrieved 2 February 2011 and during the Lbeck Nordic Film Days 2011. The story is based on true events that occurred at Basty Prison in Norway.[http://www.bastoy.no Official site for the production] Retrieved 2 February 2011
Shooting for 'King of Devil's Island' took place mostly in Estonia.
Plot
At the Basty prison for youths, the newest arrival, Erling "C19", soon becomes friends with Olav ("C1"). Under the rule of Hkon, Erling comes to terms with the harsh winter, the mistreatment by the staff, and the hated Housefather Brthen. Later, Olav sees Brthen molesting "C5", Ivar, a timid, shy boy in the laundry room. When he raises this with the Governor, the boys are severely punished and C5 is reassigned to duties far away from Brthen. However, after hearing that Brthen expects him to be back in the laundry room tomorrow Ivar drowns himself in the freezing Norwegian waters, while the rest of the boys are chopping wood. Brthen is apparently fired, to the overwhelming delight of the other boys. Olav is paroled and is planning to leave, but on the way to the departing boat, walks past Brthen, who had been sent away on a shopping trip until Olav, the only witness to Ivar's rape, had left Basty. Olav and Erling attack Brthen and as punishment they are locked in the freezing solitary confinement. They are freed by Bjern, one of the few Basty boys who has remained on the island as a caretaker. Olav again pursues Brthen, and the attack inspires a mass uprising. The boys ransack the prison, and drive away the staff. Brthen is repeatedly hanged and released and then beaten. The barn he is in is set ablaze, but Erling drags him to safety. The navy is brought in and violently puts down the uprising. Olav and Erling manage to escape across a frozen fjord back to the mainland, but Erling falls through a gap in the ice close to shore and quickly freezes to death.
Olav is shown later, older, as a member of a ship's crew, watching Basty pass by the side of his ship.
Cast
* Stellan Skarsgrd as Hkon
* Benjamin Helstad as Erling "C19"
* Trond Nilssen as Olav "C1"
* Kristoffer Joner as Brthen
* Ellen Dorrit Petersen as Astrid
* Magnus Langlete as Ivar "C5"
Historical background
Although it is set in winter, the film is a fictionalized retelling of a rebellion among the youth at the Basty Reform School in May 1915. The reformatory was located on Basty Island in the Oslo fjord south of Horten municipality in the county of Vestfold in Norway. The Norwegian government purchased the island in 1898 for 95,000 kroner, and the reformatory opened in 1900.
References
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