Sadly I haven't seen the Swedish version of this yet but I will do and I might do a comparison of the two afterwards. I'd like to do this movie because for me it's been the best film I've seen in a very long time.
The movie opens up with a man in a vintage looking office talking to someone on the telephone. It's cut so you can't see his face but you know it's someone old and in distress. It pans to a gifted wrapped photo frame with a faded plant flattened inside.
From a grey dull lit room to a bright marbled corridor where a man rushes down and finds himself bombarded but journalists and photographers. He's dressed in a navy coat but stands out somehow from the rest of the dark clothed crowd. The angle of this shot points to him which a lot of the camera angles do in this. It's always positioned on someone and in some cases follows them through an area. I like this kind of camera shots because it reminds me of the camera work used in Oldboy.
You meet the female main character at this point and you get a real sense she's different from everyone. Her really dark and obscure clothes make her stand out but make her seem fragile as well. In every scene she's in she's the focal point, the first thing you notice in the shot. It's quite an interesting colour move that really does catch your attention.
The areas themselves are lit well and...well are in Sweden so the lighting is completely different to what you would find in a US based movie. It always seems to be in a perpetual state of sundown and it gives the sky a beautiful colour in the shots and also the snow as well gives off a lovely blue frosty shine.
The houses you see for the family in this movie are quite drastic in difference. A couple of them are very old Victorian style buildings and then you have an almost all glass house that's out on the mountain side and all you can see if the light coming out of it, almost like a beacon. A couple more almost look like run down houses so the island that all these houses are on seems like a small village almost but deserted!
The shots done in the UK are very grey compared to the Swedish shots and you really feel it's in a different place especially with the London buildings in view. They aren't here for very long but it has a purpose to the story so when you see them in a typical aeroplane scene drinking some alcohol and looking at the window, it's a nice transition to the different areas.
The movie is lit well and portrays are sense of age and mystery. It's quite a long movie but the story kept me captivated and the scenes were just amazing to watch. I really enjoyed this and it's something I would reference if I ever do a cold winter setting in a drawing.
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