Anna Odell's Reunion

It is a Swedish movie, screened as a part of Swedish film fest at Chennai’s Max Mueller Bhavan. The movie is about how a woman takes revenge on her school mates, she grew up with and was bullied and ignored by during school days.  What makes this simple looking story special is that the protagonist is an artist and she avenges herself through art. The how of it unravels in layers in the course of the movie.

Though it’s a very simple sounding story line the movie makes a big impact on the viewer. The introductory note said that the movie was semi auto biographical. Yes, the maker, Anna odelle herself plays the lead.

The movie is anchored around a reunion happens and Anna is not invited to it. Anna has very bitter memories of being bullied and ignored during school. She is now a successful artist and obviously feels strong and all set to settle scores. At the same time she finds it difficult to accept that her mates still choose to avoid her. Its these two strands – the urge to settle scores and the pain of being ignored that intertwine to form the narrative.

Anna comes across as a very self built person very sure of achieving what she wanted. The shine in her eyes can be piercingly sad at times. the hierarchies that prevail among mates in a school are quite a common thing. but the striking pain and bitterness it leaves Anna with is evident in her performance. The fact that she has cast herself in the role lends the movie a very beautiful dimension. 

The mates react to Anna’s work in different ways. Some go to great lengths to avoid meeting her. Anna remains cold with many mates and is very keen to be avenged

Anna speaks to a school mate and tells him that this was the first time they were speaking, and that they had never spoken to each other in the nine years of their school life. 

Every mate who comes to meet Anna is interested in figuring out how and what have they been depicted as. One mate even relishes meeting the artist who plays him. The meeting of the two forms a very philosophical moment in the movie. 

One mate totally fails to see Anna’s point and is worried that public display of Anna’s work could bring disrepute to him and his family.

one can't end this write up on the movie without mentioning the excellent perfomances of the artists who make up the charecters of the school mates in Anna's work of art and those who play it in the movie itself. it took a while for it to occur to me that the two were different and it is this dichotomy that takes the movie to a league of its own and gives it a unique philosophical depth.

There a couple of music tracks, 'x =x' and 'the war is over' in the movie. They are fabulous and set a superb feel for the movie, particularly towards the climax.