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IMDbPro

King of Devil's Island

Original title: Kongen av Bastøy
  • 20102010
  • Not RatedNot Rated
  • 1h 56m
IMDb RATING
7.5/10
19K
YOUR RATING
Stellan Skarsgård and Benjamin Helstad in King of Devil's Island (2010)
ActionDrama
Norwegian winter, early 20th century. On the boys home Bastoy, a new inmate leads the boys to a violent uprising against a brutal regime. How far is he willing to go to attain freedom?Norwegian winter, early 20th century. On the boys home Bastoy, a new inmate leads the boys to a violent uprising against a brutal regime. How far is he willing to go to attain freedom?Norwegian winter, early 20th century. On the boys home Bastoy, a new inmate leads the boys to a violent uprising against a brutal regime. How far is he willing to go to attain freedom?
IMDb RATING
7.5/10
19K
YOUR RATING
    • Marius Holst
  • Writers
    • Mette M. Bølstad(story)
    • Lars Saabye Christensen(story)
    • Dennis Magnusson(screenplay)
  • Stars
    • Benjamin Helstad
    • Trond Nilssen
    • Stellan Skarsgård
    • Marius Holst
  • Writers
    • Mette M. Bølstad(story)
    • Lars Saabye Christensen(story)
    • Dennis Magnusson(screenplay)
  • Stars
    • Benjamin Helstad
    • Trond Nilssen
    • Stellan Skarsgård
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 31User reviews
    • 110Critic reviews
  • See production, box office & company info
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Awards

    Photos20

    Benjamin Helstad in King of Devil's Island (2010)
    Trond Nilssen in King of Devil's Island (2010)
    Stellan Skarsgård and Benjamin Helstad in King of Devil's Island (2010)
    Kristoffer Joner, Trond Nilssen, Morten Løvstad, and Odin Gineson Brøderud in King of Devil's Island (2010)
    Benjamin Helstad, Morten Løvstad, and Odin Gineson Brøderud in King of Devil's Island (2010)
    King of Devil's Island (2010)
    Benjamin Helstad and Marius Holst in King of Devil's Island (2010)
    King of Devil's Island (2010)
    Stellan Skarsgård and Benjamin Helstad in King of Devil's Island (2010)
    Stellan Skarsgård and Benjamin Helstad in King of Devil's Island (2010)
    King of Devil's Island (2010)
    King of Devil's Island (2010)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Benjamin Helstad
    Benjamin Helstad
    • Erling…
    Trond Nilssen
    Trond Nilssen
    • Olav…
    Stellan Skarsgård
    Stellan Skarsgård
    • Bestyrer Håkon
    Kristoffer Joner
    Kristoffer Joner
    • Husfar Bråthen
    Magnus Langlete
    • Ivar…
    Morten Løvstad
    • Øystein
    • (as Morten Strøm)
    Daniel Berg
    • Johan
    Odin Gineson Brøderud
    • Axel
    Magnar Botten
    • Lillegutt
    Markus Brustad
    • Jan
    Agnar Jeger Holst
    • Arne
    Tommy Jakob Håland
    • Terje
    Richard Safin
    • Eirik
    Frank-Thomas Andersen
    • Gårdsgutt Bjarne
    • (as Frank-Thomas H. Andersen)
    Arne Brønstad
    • Husfar Kjell
    Nils-Fredrik Tveter
    • Husfar
    Martin Slaatto
    Martin Slaatto
    • Husfar Harald
    Ellen Dorrit Petersen
    Ellen Dorrit Petersen
    • Bestyrerens kone
      • Marius Holst
    • Writers
      • Mette M. Bølstad(story)
      • Lars Saabye Christensen(story)
      • Dennis Magnusson(screenplay)
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Bastoy prison is still in operation today but is a minimum security institution.
    • Goofs
      The movie grossly exaggerates the size of the lead ship of the Norwegian Navy at the time.

      As the boys are trying to escape the island, at about 1 hour 34 minutes, the Battleship "Norge" appears in the fog. The "Norge" was a small 300 ft pre-dreadnought - significantly smaller than modern day Frigate. If one assumes that the men seen on deck, are about 1.7 meters tall, the ship in the movie is more than 3 times as large as the actual "Norge" - comparable to a modern day Aircraft Carrier.
    • Quotes

      [last lines]

      Erling: I once saw a whale swim with three harpoons in it. It took the entire day to die. He was weak due to the harpoon I shot him with. And covered with scars from all the battles he had fought. I have become acquainted with one boy whom is soon to sign off. For the six years he has been on this ship, he has done everything right. And now, he is going home.

    • Soundtracks
      Sigur 1 (Untitled)
      Performed by Sigur Rós

      Music & Lyrics by Kjartan Sveinsson, Jon Thor Birgisson, Georg Holm, Orri P. Dyrason

      Universal Music Publishing Scandinavia AB

      (P) 2002 FatCat Records

    User reviews31

    Review
    Review
    Featured review
    8/10
    A true story's dramatic dilemma
    Kongen av Bastøy is based on actual events happening on the Bastøy correctional facility for difficult boys, back in 1915. The Norwegian island Bastøy is located in the Oslo fjord, between Horten and Moss, about an hours drive south of Norway's capitol, what until 1919 was called Christiania before changing name back to original Oslo.

    Marius Holst has made another good film about young boys coping with coming of age. This time he has gone to the core of coping with misplaced childhoods. Well acted, and very true to it's time frame, Kongen of Bastøy, is very believable story made with a 10 million dollar budget. Stellan Skarsgård, Kristoffer Joner, Benjamin Helstad and Trond Nilssen does the very best of method acting of their characters.

    The story is both sore, dramatic and tragic, as well as true. It tries to both tell Norwegian history back when the country was poor, and when it was likely to be sent on a whaling ship, being a youngster from difficult background. So why is this film not a 10 out of 10. so many of these heart-wrenching stories easily make you get tears in your eyes.

    Well, I'm afraid to say that this is a true story's dilemma. Making the best possible story come out in a film, you have to love of eel for the characters. The young boys on this facility is not the ones easy to love. They are brutal, uneducated, cheeky, unable to show affection and victims of a difficult past. Though Marius Holst tries to make us understand and feel affection for both the kids and the "wardens" in this boys home, I simply can't really start to like any of the characters.

    Well acted, well written, but does director Holst really make us care? He has shown he know how to do this in the great story of "Cross my heart and hope to die", In Norwegian: "Ti kniver i hjertet" and "Mirsush" or "Blodsbånd", and succeeded well there. In Kongen av Bastøy which is a story of 10 years in progress, the trouble is that he had to face reality.

    Telling a story on difficult boys, obviously has to show the boys how they are. And Marius Holst is no "tears-seeker". Neither is his leading actor in this. He obviously has felt this story has to be told. And as a historic manuscript on how one solved this cases of difficult boys back then, it functions very well. Just don't expect to really care. Maybe this makes the film even better. It should, but I'm afraid I still feel it lacks this. To really be able to touch a movie-goer, the fictional adding would have done the trick. making the film an even better story, but less true. That's the dilemma of telling a true story. If you want the story to be loved, you gotta add the elements of heart and soul, even if it would be untrue to the story told.

    So for this cold bastard, I'm afraid this is just a good told story, and not a classic as I'd like it to be, and maybe also therefore not the possible box office hit it would have been, if made as a heart wrenching story.

    Making a film like this loved, really need us to identify. This is the only true trouble with an otherwise great film.

    Bastøy correctional facility was closed down in the fifties, when Norway was recovering from the 2nd World war. Now there's a prison out there. I'm sure a lot of kids was growing up hating Bastøy. Bastøy still have a negative sound for Norwegians, well deserved.
    helpful•38
    20
    • OJT
    • Dec 17, 2010

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • December 17, 2010 (Norway)
      • Norway
      • France
      • Sweden
      • Poland
    • Official sites
      • Official Facebook
      • Official site
      • Norwegian
      • Swedish
    • Also known as
    • Filming locations
      • Estonia
    • Production companies
      • 4 1/2 Film
      • MACT Productions
      • St Paul Film
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

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    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

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    • 1 hour 56 minutes
      • Color
      • Dolby

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