Regissören (2011) Online

Carlsson outdid himself with his latest film. He's pushed the no-budget art-house film about as far as it can go, with this pseudo-documentary, horror, art-film. Carlsson plays the director, creating a documentary about making a film which you are already watching. There's a lot of insight to Carlsson's artistic choices, but whether or not those are Carlsson's actual motivations or a fabrication of the characters' is up in the air, but I feel there's some meaning in the diatribes and 2 minutes of black besides utter frustration of his audience.

It's forceful and bold. It's a strong film, but doesn't try to woo it's audience. It's like Stockholm syndrome; it beats you mercilessly until you love it.

Regissören means "The Director" in Swedish. I know this, because I asked Ronny Carlsson, director of The Director (aka Regissören) what the hell it meant. I also asked him what the hell Regissören (aka The Director) was about. Because I had no f*****g idea. I also really didn't care what "The Director" (aka Regissören) was about, but since I'm apparently a professional film critic (hahaha!) I thought I'd at least make an effort to find out, just in case somebody else cares. However, it is my humble opinion that, if you really want to understand what "The Director" (aka Regissören) is about, what exactly it's trying to say and what all of those underlying metaphors really mean, you probably shouldn't be watching this movie at all. Don't try and figure this out, just go with it.

Regissören (aka The Director…okay, I'll knock it off now) is (in Carlsson's own words: "a result of time going too fast. I didn't want to be left without a film made in 2011." Part writers block, part Cronenbergian infomercial and at least 5% caffeine overdose jitters, Regissören is a psychotropic trip through Carlsson's head and all of the clutter therein. From philosophical discussions and sobering rape statistics, to boobs and squirrels ("that little bastard was keeping me from coming up with ideas for the movie so I had to make him part of it"), its scattered pieces all eventually come together, weaving a delicate tapestry of timeless storytelling, in that it really f*****g doesn't do that at all. It's a lot like The Human Centipede Part 2 in that it has absolutely nothing to do with that film in any way shape or form. In the complete body of films released this year, Regissören is the extended middle finger. On both hands. I've had ICU-induced morphine-drip dreams that were more coherent than this film, and far less disturbing.

You see, Carlsson doesn't make scary movies, he makes nasty, squirm-worthy disturbing movies, all gangrenous and festering with pus. There's no linear plot, no designated Bad Guy or Final Girl, just a series of freakish images held together by soggy used bandages. It's a distorted Hell of static snow and oozy open sores. There doesn't seem to be any kind of a story present until, amazingly, you realize that there is. Sort of. Uh, I think.

If you're wondering why I haven't offered a synopsis yet, it's because I can't. I don't know how. This movie is for those unfortunate individuals who lack a crippling hereditary psychosis of their very own. It's got all of the knives and necrophilia that any budding serial killer could wish for, as well as a reminder about the importance of scheduling those annual mammograms posthaste. Word up: check your lumps, or they might check you.

Filmed around the autumnal forests of Sweden, Regissören is Carlsson's first feature length effort, a sort-of companion piece to his films Video Geisteskrank and My Monster, neither of which I've seen. But that's okay, according to Ronny, who said: You don't need to, this is a stand-alone thing. Only thing that would make you wiser is that you'd see some recurring themes. Mainly video violence changing a person. In the two first it's my character, in Regissören it's the director of the films (me). Before Regissören I don't think I've done anything personal. I don't really like telling stories based on opinions or anything, but stories that are just their own world. Video Geisteskrank is about how video violence makes someone kill. I don't believe any of that. Lots of people do, but I don't. VG was simply about one occurrence where it happened."

So there you have it. You are now as confused and as unenlightened as I am. But I can think of no better recommendation than Carlsson's own: "Smaller budget, worse equipment, longer runtime (my first feature), lots and lots of experimenting, has dialog, me doing most things (even holding camera, which I suck at) and made with intention of being slightly annoying. It's s***!"

Regissören is the third and final chapter of Ronny Carlsson's film anthology. This is a film that plays with ideas about Ronny's previous films. Here we meet a narcissistic character who becomes mentally affected by his own films. A film about Ronny as director, a film about his thought, structures and about how he sees himself and the films he directs. This is Ronny's very own mockumentary, a very different (and in some cases severe) but it's a fair ending to a perfect anthology .

This may be the best looking film in the series, but for me it was really difficult to summarize the whole. I needed to get a sensible explanation for that whatsoever manage to put the pieces in their proper place. Ronny might not have put the biggest driver on completing the series' historical perspective , but it's the editing that is Ronny's strongest feature - not to mention the fleshy impact on its cheap special effects. In doing so, it is apparent that he was pretty damn tired of working with " Experimental Films From The Lens of a Shitty Camcorder" and the camera used for these recordings is probably Ronny's greatest enemy today - so it was good to his own advantage to complete the anthology so abruptly.

What's so clear is the evident in this film series and how Ronny likes to experiment with sound, light and flickering. This can produce epilepsy - so if you are extremely sensitive to light; my tip is to avoid it. To my great joy Ronny uses various material things that bring out the film's strong symbolism. For example, at the beginning of the movie Ronny sitting in front of a roaring television screen and inject an antenna cable in the arm. This symbolizes a visual heroin syringe that says that what you see on TV / Film will adversely affect you mentally.

Regissören takes its own turns when it comes to the offense. One moment you see the director torturing someone to death , and the next moment the person he recently murdered, still are live. Or maybe it's just something that sits deep in his sick mind? I believe that this film, like many of his other films, is open to their own reflections - that everyone has the opportunity to inspect and prepare their own perceptions. Personally I believe Ronny was influenced by his two previous films and live himself into the character he created for "Video Geisteskrank " and "My Monster ". Ronny becomes the character, Ronny becomes the killer, Ronny performs as a murder, Ronny fall in love with the victim and chased by the ghost.

I think it's very difficult to put a review on this movie. I love Ronny's films but I think I have to give "Regissören" a little more leeway and see it a number of times to form the newer conceptions , find more pieces of the puzzle and speculate deeply about the big picture. Possibly this review will be reformulated at time, but as it looks now it's very messy in my head - or maybe it's just in this way it should be? you will experience the movie in bewilderment characters? The answer will come in its time.