Controversial Swedish film – PLAY – issued on dvd in the UK

PLAY (15) 2011 SWEDEN    ÖSTLUND, RUBEN    £17.99

Three schoolchildren find themselves the victims of a group of young black con artists in this Swedish racial drama from director Ruben Östlund.

After approaching three local boys – two white and one of Asian descent – in a Gothenburg shopping mall, a group of black teenagers accuse one of the boys of owning a stolen mobile phone belonging to one of their brothers, demanding that they accompany them on a short trip so that the brother can resolve the issue. Over the coming hours, as the streetwise black youths play a psychological game, preying on the fears and stereotypes of their victims without ever resorting to direct violence, the reserved, anxious-not-to-offend local kids are led on a march through some of Gothenburg’s more unfamiliar areas.

The film sparked fierce debate in Sweden, was the film about  race or class and also the wider Swedish  narrative of a country divided by “us,” the Swedes and a “them” who are foreigners.

In Swedish with English subtitles

DVD available to buy at –  http://www.worldonlinecinema.com/Home/scandinavian-films-on-dvd

Telegraph review – http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/filmreviews/10174743/Play-review.html

Presseurop review

http://www.presseurop.eu/en/content/article/1379721-play-film-upends-racist-cliches