Plantiana Yawn. Poorly Filmed Snooze Fest.

RyothChatty ridiculous rating

StyleSk8r At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

Sameer Callahan It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

WalterSoprano Man this film redefines gut punch. The film is on a strong emotional level that very little if any thing else film wise is on. The film is not a fun one to watch or easy to watch for that matter, however the film is one of the best as far as emotions. The writing and acting backed by the decent story compel you to watch until it's inevitable but shocking conclusion.Some scenes will disgust you beyond word and others will emotionally disturb you to levels you don't experience often in films. I won't call it one of the best movies I've ever seen but it is one of the strongest emotional films I've ever seen. Some really messed up stuff happens making this film really hard to watch. I don't recommend this film to many people because of those reasons but for those interested in the variety types of films this is something you need to check out. If you go to youtube it's free on there. But if you watch proceed with caution this film will stick in your mind.

swedeboi Remember your teen years? Remember the emotional trauma, the desire to be popular, the need to conform, the bullying? In Klass (2007), director Ilmar Raag and more than a dozen youthful actor-writers have created an Estonian indie masterpiece well deserving of its lofty 8.1 IMDb ranking.Twenty year-old Pärt Uusberg (his first name is pronounced PAIRt) plays the role of Joosep, a bullying victim in an Estonian high school. Vallo Kirs, 19, plays Kaspar, the only classmate who comes to Joosep's aid. The two Estonian actors turn in emotional and intense performances given their ages and limited acting experience. While Joosep looks more like a kid who would be popular in school, his quiet, brooding nature well serves the role of a student victim. Kaspar's initially hesitant assistance to Joosep renders his role realistic as well. Picked on by his entire class, Joosep suffers primarily at the hands of class bully, Anders, played by Lauri Pedaja, 20. A hairdresser by profession, Lauri brings Anders to life as a classically insensitive, aggressive bully. If you went to high school, you probably knew someone like Anders.As Joosep and Kaspar become closer, the bullying becomes increasingly violent and cruel, culminating in an act of forced sexual depravity that was filmed suggestively, but not graphically, just 100 meters south of the Stromka White House, a recreational facility on Stromka Beach in Tallinn. The horrendous abuse drives the boys to a vengeful and tragic decision that plays out in the brutal final scenes of the movie. The brilliance of Klass lies in the conflict the film creates, leaving the viewer torn between sympathy for its lead characters and revulsion for the choice they make.My only complaint is the director's decision to divide the movie into chapters. The musical interludes associated with chapter changes interrupt the flow of the movie, and the chapter titles do nothing to advance viewer understanding or anticipation. This is a minor issue, however, and some may find the interruptions artistically attractive.Amazingly, Klass has never been released in the United States, and the DVD is available only in PAL/Region 2 format at a pricey $24. DVD-Rom drives in American computers are set to play the NTSC/Region 1 disks commonly sold in North America, and the region settings can only be changed a very limited number of times (usually 4). Despite this, I was able to view the movie without changing my region settings by simply opening the disk in VLC, a popular freeware media viewer. I'm not sure if this will work for everyone.I found Klass similar in mood, theme, and intensity to Mandragora, a 1997 Czech indie film that follows two boys as they are forced into a life of drugs and male prostitution in Prague. As between the two movies, however, I feel that viewers will identify far more readily with the painful experiences so ably depicted in Klass.KEY FILMING LOCATIONS (GOOGLE EARTH COORDINATES):1. SCHOOL: Scenes near Joosep and Kaspar's school were filmed in front of the Tallinna 32 Keskkool at 59 24 37.55 N 24 41 42.48 E. (The location is confirmed by comparing Street View with the scenes.)2. WALK HOME: Joosep and Kaspar first talk while walking through a grassy power company easement. They walk past an electrical tower located at 59 24 46.64N 24 41 44.53 E. (The location is confirmed by comparing Street View with T-shaped vents and a tapered smokestack visible in the background of the scene.)3. FIGHT SCENE: Joosep is beaten up by his classmates in the paved lot next to the Electrum Trading Company. The lot is located at 59 25 2.90 N 24 41 5.17 E. (The location is confirmed by the yellow building to the north, the grassy boundaries on the west and north sides of the lot, the white quonset hut to the south, the above-ground steam line to the south, and the small building to the southwest of the lot.) 4. FORCED SEX SCENE: The forced sex scene was filmed on Stroomi Beach at 59 26 30.60 N 24 41 0.09 E. (The location is confirmed by the unusual architecture of the Stromka White House visible in the background of the scene.)

Arcadio Bolanos The law of the jungle is fair and kind compared to the law (or lack thereof) of high school. 16 year old boys can act with the utmost cruelty and viciously attack their peers. Contemporary psychologists call this phenomena bullying. And that's exactly what Joosep is struggling against. He's constantly bullied by a group of abusive boys that act under the guidance of Anders, the alpha male, the ultimate bully.When the boys assault Joosep in the locker room and remove his clothes, leaving him completely naked, Kaspar, a boy that was part of Anders's circle rebels against the abuse and saves Joosep from further mortification. Kaspar then embarks upon an almost impossible task, after all, he is an idealistic adolescent fighting against an abstract threat. He can fend off Anders for a while, but he cannot neutralize bullying as a continued and ever increasing practice in high school.Anders ridicules Joosep persistently, accusing the defenseless boy of being gay. It doesn't matter if Joosep is gay or not, the important thing is that Anders behaves like every other uncouth teen in the world: he relies on the homosexual phantasm in order to articulate himself in the symbolic order and, more accurately, in a place of power within the lawless dynamic of high school.Homosexuality is seen as a synonym of the abject, id est, the vilest, the very lowest condition of man. That's why it's also the most common insult among teens in Western (and perhaps Eastern) society. According to contemporary philosopher Slavoj Žižek, we should ask here a naive, but nonetheless crucial question: why does the Army so strongly rejects gays? Not because homosexuality poses a threat to the 'phallic and patriarchal' libidinal economy of the military community, but, on the contrary, because the Army itself depends on a disavowed homosexuality as the key component of the soldiers' male-bonding.In fact, in any phallocentric society there will be an insatiable need to humiliate the one who who doesn't act as manly as he should. And if there is no such person then every group of men will create this figure, even if it's as a purely phantasmatic projection of their own fears and insecurities. This of course pertains to high-school, after all, adolescence is a difficult age in which the subject must reaffirm both sexual identity and gender role, something that is made all too clear in "Klass".This flimsy concomitance of extreme and violent homophobia with thwarted homosexual libidinal economy, is evident in high school. That's why it's impossible for the boys to divulge what is really going on in their lives: they cannot explain this to their parents or teachers.Once a popular boy, Kaspar is now labeled as a pariah, joining Joosep in the murky confines of the land of the "losers" (it's fascinating to observe that this dichotomy between popular kids and losers exists not only in the US but also in Estonia). Thea, Kaspar's girlfriend, loses her patience. Why is he defending this pathetic, antisocial boy? For Kaspar is a matter of honor. If Anders represents power, Kaspar is the heroic resistance.Anders is completely obsessed with the alleged homosexual condition of Joosep. Although very subtly, Ilmar Raag's film presents a homophobic that could perfectly be a (furious and frustrated) closeted homosexual. Anders displays an obsessive behavior that obtains libidinal satisfaction out of the very compulsive rituals destined to chastise gays. That's why when he fails to create the fantasy of homosexuality through an elaborate scheme of false e-mails sent to Kaspar and Joosper he chooses a more radical approach.Hazing is a typical masculine ritual. Should this practice be publicly disclosed the very dynamics of the heterosexual normativity would be undermined. Because to consider themselves as straight guys, these boys must depend on a mechanism of self-censorship. Hazing seems to be accepted by adults as long as no one outside school finds out about them. That's why in sports class teachers don't worry about Joosep getting punched. In the same way, Joosep's father gets mad at his son, not because of the hazing but because the hazing has escaped the boundaries of school and has reached their house. The rule is simple: violence can take place as long as it's not discovered.Anders's new trap seems to work at first, when he captures Joosper and Kaspar in the beach. There, he menaces both with a knife; he then proceeds to put Kaspar on his knees and forces him to receive Joosep's penis into his mouth... while filming everything with a digital camera. The hazing, of course, nowadays can be perpetuated through YouTube, Facebook or any other social network. Anders has planned to destroy the two boys, to make them feel so ashamed that they must either leave the school or commit suicide. But once these images are broadcasted online, the required self-censorship gets deactivated; thus vacating the place of power and creating a counter-power.In other words, Anders can no longer be the leader, something made clear by the comments of the boys in his group, who feel disgusted at his actions. The homosexual slandering had been fundamental for them insofar as it had only worked in the dimension of the phantasm. Once homosexuality is embodied by the two victims, everything falls to pieces. After Anders has degraded his two victims, he loses all power, and thus empowers Kaspar and Joosper who now feel compelled to exact revenge on the bully."Klass" is one of the most honest, heartbreaking, cruel and powerful films I've ever seen regarding teenagers, games of power and violence. Once violence escalates we know that tragedy ensues. Reminiscent of productions such as Gus Van Sant's "Elephant" or Murali K. Thalluri's "2:37", Ilmar Raag gets to the core of adolescence and creates an extraordinary story that dissects the nature of power and violence.

Sandcooler This movie teaches everyone a really important lesson: if you're going to get bullied, for the love of God don't have it happen to you in Estonia. Roughly 90% of this movie consists of our main character getting humiliated, beaten and totally ripped to shreds by a deranged gang of...wait, that's just his class? Like, from school? That's pretty messed-up. The viewing experience of "Klass" is that of an anti-movie. Most movies thrive on suspension of disbelief, this however is a movie you simply don't want to believe. The young actors are all very convincing, sickeningly convincing as a matter of fact. This movie almost looks too real, makes it a really uncomfortable watch. The ending is also really powerful because of the intensely raw look this movie employs. If you're really determined to ever watch an Estonian film, it might as well be this one.