Rating: 
Summary: A Whiter Shade of Fear
Review: View this compelling Norwegian psychodrama as the antithesis of 'Se7en'. Here, instead of deep dark shadows and grey sheets of rain, we have white shouding mists, perpetual daylight, fades-to-white. A film blanc perhaps. But that's not to say this is a light film, it is perhaps one of the darkest in subject matter we've seen. The light is toxic, almost tangible, nausea-inducing. The acting and cinematography are excellent throughout, the narrative involving. The fine line between psychopath and pathologist (and indeed between art and reality) is sufficiently blurred to render this film almost amoral, but is made all the more interesting for it.The Criterion Collection has little in the way of extras, but the picture is pinsharp (although there is evidence of digital disturbance at one point)and the soundstage well positioned. Don't watch the extended menu, however, as it shows you absolutely everything in the film.
Rating: 
Summary: A striking psychological thriller... from Norway!
Review: Visually stylish character study of a distraught detective on a homicide case in the land of the midnight sun. What distinguishes this from American thrillers is that the focus is on the detective and not on the mystery aspects. Very well acted, directed and written but not terribly intense. Still, it's an ambitious and haunting film with a great electronic score. The Criterion DVD boasts an absolutely gorgeous anamorphic transfer... one of the best I've seen.
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