2. Kongen Av Bastøy (King Of Devils Island)
Year 2010,
Director Marius Holst,
Starring Stellan Skarsgård, Benjamin Helstad, Trond Nilssen, Kristoffer Joner, Ellen Dorrit Petersen, Magnus Langlete. Swedish actor Stellan Skarsgård is one of Scandinavias best known exports in the world of cinema, having appeared in films such as The Avengers and the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise. Despite his international success, however, the Swedish actor remains a prominent cinematic figure in his home region, having starred in several of Danish director Lars von Triers films, as well as a number of Norwegian releases, most notably 1998s Insomnia, which was the basis for an American remake, directed by Christopher Nolan, in 2002, starring Al Pacino. One of his more recent Norwegian films is King Of Devils Island, loosely based on true events, in which he portrays Håkon, the governor of a dehumanising boys reform home, whose inmates including Erling and Olav, played respectively by Helstad and Nilssen. The former boy brings out the inner rebel of the latter in a film that showcasing both human courage and depravity, creating a prison film that whilst not quite up to the standard of The Shawshank Redemption, makes for a captivating two hours of cinema.