Reviewer's Rating 4 out of 5
Container (2006)
12aContains strong language and references to human suffering

Container - Swedish director Lukas Moodysson's follow-up to his shockfest A Hole In My Heart - should have been called A Hole In My Head. Bordering on psychosis, it features a rambling stream-of-consciousness voiceover from Jena Malone (Donnie Darko) and a collage of story-lite visuals in which a fat transsexual (Peter Lorentzon) prances about in a blond wig and a skinny woman (Mariha 脜berg) washes ravioli in a bathtub. It's dark, disconcerting and sometimes dull; only hardcore arthouse obsessives need apply.

"If I was a boy, I'd make love to Paris Hilton all day long," gabbles Malone's free-associating voiceover. "But I'm not a boy, I'm a girl in a boy's body". Rarely syncing with the on-screen action, the voiceover jangles likes notes from a psychotic episode. It's the schizoid consciousness of someone overwhelmed by modern life's pressures, from the cult of celebrity to gender reassignment and global hunger. On-screen the random, sometimes strobing visuals record the actors covering their faces in Sellotape and romping over Romanian rubbish tips.

"NOSTALGICALLY EVOKES A GLORIOUS SUMMER"

Like A Hole in My Heart, this is a film about loneliness, despair and the hell of existence. It doesn't feature the vaginal surgery or vomit of Moodysson's previous effort, but it's no less bleak. Weird juxtapositions are created: fan letters to porn star Savannah sit next to comments on the Holocaust. Moodysson says he expects his film to find an appreciative audience of seven. He's probably right. But those seven will doubtlessly think it's one of the weirdest, most disturbing things they've seen in ages.

End Credits

Director: Lukas Moodysson

Writer: Lukas Moodysson

Stars: Peter Lorentzon, Mariha 脜berg, Jenna Malone

Genre: Drama

Length: 75 minutes

Cinema: 27 October 2006

Country: Sweden

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