The Reunion

Seen during the Challenge Tour 2015: 30 days with world cinema. Film number 17 - Sweden. The theme of class reunions personally interests me very much. I am, in fact, a regular initiator and organizer of class reunions from elementary school. So whenever I have the opportunity to encounter this theme in literature, in the theater, or in the cinema, I am full of anticipation. I was firmly convinced that this was the right film that would not disappoint me during the Days of European Cinema. And this time I was not mistaken. In the first part, I felt very uncomfortable, I felt anxious and of course I could not help but remember The Celebration and mentally confirm that these tense dramas at the table can only be done so well by the Scandinavians. The following second part caused a bit of confusion in my head, because I had only read one sentence from the content, so I had no idea where the film was heading. The second part was very specific, but did not lose any steam and the conclusion was very original. Class Reunion brought me exactly what I missed in The Infiltrator and Unforgiving - something new, innovative processing of a specific topic. Anna Odell dealt with it excellently. The conclusion of the Days of European Cinema could not have been better, for me a small finale, a big finale was subsequently provided by The Photographer, to which I rushed from Lucerna to Světozor. (16/04/2015)

Anna Odell’s performance was absolutely brilliant in this movie. And since she was so pleasant to watch, I rooted for her the entire time. Bullying is still very topical and it was interesting to watch her deal with it. The movie was divided into two parts; the first part is meeting at the high school reunion and confronting all of the former classmates. The second half focuses on how they all perceive it when they look back and whether they want to comment on it at all. The ending was very open, but I liked it. I’m always happy to see the Scandinavians do something fresh and original. (29/06/2015)