fuga_mundi one of the summaries about this film states that "Every Alcoholic should see this one". wow! seems just a bit too "American Dream". first of all it is European and as my great anthropology professor said to me once: "i've never met an European that was NOT an alcoholic", but not by the objective standards! perhaps i could add, in a state of a rapid emotion and not reason (for i'm European and probably i'm already drunk), that i've never met an American that said anything smart about europeans. anyways, THIS IS NOT A Hollywood FRIENDLY FILM, or it just has very few friends in "hollywood"(try to realize what that word really means). maybe because of that the very creator still lies unknown, but should he be forgotten? a story made for people and not their imitations. i am aware that most of the viewers would rather enjoy terror of war in special effects, laughing and cheering in their joy - dude! somehow natural became abnormal to them, and it's not so entertaining anymore. a simple beauty of a woman's breast seems not proper, becomes obscene, and eventually is censored in order to protect their young ones - yes! just buy them another play station and let them educate themselves."aberdeen" is my #1 and so is Hans Petter Molland. i see in it the very human beings in their faults, sins, their downfalls as well as their resurrections - vision of, non-the-less, us (you and me). for point to me a perfect man and i will name a god after him - you can quote me on that:) enjoy

jeffreyfgold Aberdeen is an excellent character-driven film. It is one of the best films I have seen in a very long time (now that we have to slog through gargantuan archives of direct-to-DVD films just to get to the few good ones). Charlotte Rampling's line, "Sometimes ugly can be nice" captures the film's characters very well. Stellan Skarsgard, Lena Headey, Ian Hart and Charlotte Rampling are superb in this understated, European (English language) melodrama. Both the beautifully sparse cinematography and Preisner's "childish" score work very well subtextually. The plot is driven by destination and deadline, and this road movie uses every scenario to develop or reinforce character traits. The dialogue is equally sparse and terse, leaving the audience to fill in the blanks to diffuse the dramatic tension. I highly recommend this film, especially if you're not afraid of delving into some Scandinavian melancholy. I give it a 10 for being emotionally engaging and differentiating itself from a bevy of moribund films and/or lifeless protagonists whose goals are inconsequential; the characters in Aberdeen are tragically flawed, but one cares for them. Deeply.

raymond_chandler I rented "Aberdeen" because I love Lena Headey and have been catching up on her work. The fact that Ian Hart and Stellan Skarsgard are also featured only made this film more attractive. I was not disappointed.All the acting is good, including Charlotte Rampling in a difficult, passive role, but Stellan's portrayal of a wrecked man is astounding. He nails all the outward attributes of alcoholism, but never overdoes it. His eyes tell us all we need to know as his character slowly finds some piece of his own humanity buried deep inside. Astounding, when one compares Tomas to, say, the smoothly lethal Gregor from "Ronin", or the monstrous Cerdic from "King Arthur". Stellan is one of those actors whose mere presence on screen is riveting.The story itself is simple, but this movie is all about the journey, literally. We are all damaged in some way, but holding on to bitterness and resentment for past wrongs will destroy oneself more effectively from within than any outside force can do.

oranxg it's hard to describe this film....kind of slow and dull at times, and yet it definitely leaves you with an impression. What the director is trying to get across i cannot say for sure, but what i can say is that this film conveys, almost imposes a certain somber mood upon the audience, especially with the use of color (primarily blue, gray, and everything in between). It reminds me of another film called il mare. But anyways, the acting is excellent. I had never heard of Lena Headey before but she was absolutely fantastic. It's unfortunate how acting of that quality is in short supply in the U.S. Also, i thought it was a nice touch how the director began the film with Kaisa being the responsible, well dressed one while the father was the slovenly drunk and then reversing the roles towards the end of the film. Although i am still thinking through the meanings....