Magnus (2007) User Reviews

Director's pretentious style leaves American public cold

[mike_caccioppoli · 1/10 · 16 May 2008]

"Magnus" has something to say about love, parenthood, sex and suicide but not necessarily in that order. The problem is that its pretensions get in the way of us caring about its characters and really understanding what it's trying to accomplish.

The title character is a lonely, confused teenager (played by Estonian pop star Kristjan Kasearu) who has attempted suicide at least twice. Much of the film centers around us watching Magnus as he wanders aimlessly through life, doing drugs with his dad, going to a brothel, asking his sister to have sex with him, etc. He seems totally bored and disinterested most of the time and while this may be part of his condition, it becomes contagious and we begin to feel the same way.

One of the problems lies with the performance of Kasearu, who while extremely handsome is also mostly expressionless and never allows us into Magnus' head or heart.

The other issue is with writer/director Kadri Kousaar's pretentious style which involves unnecessarily avant-garde camera angles and opaque lighting that quickly put us into an intellectual and emotional stupor. "Magnus" is a film that's so caught up in its own 'ideas' that it ends up leaving us cold.

Sort of weak

[chrisbell6419 · 3/10 · 12 February 2008]

"Magnus" by Kadri Kousaar was a film chosen for Un Certain Regard, one of the side festivals of Cannes, but not in main competition. It was visually interesting, but the characterization and particularly the dialog were weak. It undermined the story. Especially as it is a true story about a father and son relationship and the father plays himself in the fictional film, and then gives a documentary testament in the final five minutes. In my opinion it was a very uneven film, beautiful in many regards but undercut by so much on-the-nose sturm-und-drang and weak character development (most of them didn't have names outside of Mother, Father, and Sister, and these were major characters).

Beautifully told story of dark side of our life

[Nordictiger · 10/10 · 9 June 2008]

It's beautifully told story about dark side of our life, about love (or lack of it) and life (or lack of it). But not only, it will give you some food for thought in many many areas. It's not ready-made fast food, you have to think along and thinking is not always easy thing to do. Being a parent will probably help you a bit. This film will tell you a lot if you care to listen.

There is something this film does not tell you but it may be good to know - Estonia is one of the top countries in male suicides per capita and by large talking about suicide is considered to be taboo. That may explain negative attacks toward film and director in reviews.

Technically it's not perfect movie, but it's good enough not to notice it while watching. Given virtually non-exciting budget - team has done excellent job there.

Give it a try, it's not for everyone, but it's well worth seeing.

Unnecessary explanatory epilogue

[Jedrzejowska29 · 2/10 · 28 February 2008]

A weirdly rushed finale followed by the most unnecessary explanatory epilogue since Psycho makes foreign distribution unlikely unless the film is re-cut in its entirety. Persistently weak dialogue throughout the whole motion picture. I believe Kousaar tried to shock the viewers by focusing on gloomy Soviet sexual perversions like for troubled Magnus seeking a blowjob from his own sister. I thought that most of the sexual connotations were too explicit and unnecessary. As for the young Magnus, mostly he wanders about smoking and gazing at the sky with a puzzled expression to the sound of someone trying to murder a cello. When he phones his sister to tell her that today's the day he plans to die, she tells him to get on with it. Sensible girl.

Welcome to Estonia

[elver-loho · 10/10 · 2 May 2008]

There's an old joke about Estonians.

A guy dies, goes to hell. Before his eternal torture begins the devil gives him a tour of hell. Everywhere the guy sees huge pits filled with boiling tar and people in agony, struggling to get out. When someone finally reaches the edge of the pit, there's always a devil's apprentice with a pitchfork there to push him back in.

Finally the guy reaches another such horrible boiling hole, but there aren't any devil's apprentices around. Confused, he asks the devil: "Where are the guys with the pitchforks? Aren't you afraid one of them is going to climb out?" "Relax," says the devil. "This pit of boiling tar is for Estonians. When one of them reaches the edge, the others pull him back in." This joke and this film both sum up Estonians almost perfectly.

I find it odd how the negative comments by other Estonians here are either personal, aimed at the director Kadri Kõusaar, or aimed at the film's quality. Which isn't groundbreaking, but is certainly good enough.

Quality, then. The quality of this film does not hinder storytelling. It's not up to the standards of Hollywood and the visual language doesn't really enhance the film except in a couple of parts, but it certainly doesn't hinder anything. It works to tell the story and it succeeds in that.

The story, then. There's a clear plot, but it might not be very clear on the first viewing. Nonetheless, every scene is crafted around the film's central idea and once you get it, you'll see it for yourself. The writing is not only competent, it's good. It's very good. Someone compared it to the cryptic works of Paulo Coelho. Well. I'm glad to say that Magnus is nothing like that. It's a lot better.

Magnus has a very clear point. It's about the dichotomy of Estonian life. You either don't give a sh*t and live a great life or you can bugger off and kill yourself. Nobody cares and if you look for someone to care about you, you'll just be disappointed.

One place where the film does suck, however, is the English translation. It's dry. It lacks soul. If that's all you have to go by, then sure, you'll probably not get what the film is about.

Magnus and Klass are two Estonian films I'm not ashamed to recommend to my foreign friends. Good films are made with great passion and both Magnus and Klass certainly have that passion.

Kadri Kousaar's "Magnus" comes dangerously close to endorsing the views of its young protagonist

[wagner-annie75 · 1/10 · 27 May 2008]

Kadri Kousaar's first film comes dangerously close to endorsing the views of its young protagonist, who besides being eager to end his own life is also a pretentious jerk.

Delivered into the care of his prostitute-patronizing slacker of a father (played by the real-life father of a suicide), Magnus experiments with drugs, hits on his own sister, and ruminates on his childhood lung disease. Then he gazes upon a swamp for minutes at a time. The philosophical content of this movie is offensively crude.

So far reviewers in Seattle (meaning SIFF) are not impressed. The showing is on June 2.

I should have known...

[J-Daniel-Scott · 1/10 · 4 June 2008]

... when I arrived for this film 30 minutes before start time and saw five people in the ticket holder line and a dozen in the pass holder line that something was amiss. This is a stinker of film that collapsed under the weight of its pretensions. I gave it two stars for the beautiful shots of scenery but minus one star for the dearth of story, subpar acting and the director's pretentious tomfoolery with the camera angles, filming some scenes upside or from odd angles or through distorted reflections. Yeah, I get it: it was to reflect the state of Magnus's mind but a five minute shot of water or a three minute shot of Magnus staring off into space does not further the story and was ultimately boring and sleep inducing. Too bad too, because there were some great characters in the self absorbed modeling agent mother and the drug addict purveyor of porn father. BY FAR THE WORST FILM I've seen at the Seattle International Film Festival so far.

Worse than mediocre, not to mention huge ethical issues.

[helgaakberg79 · 1/10 · 11 December 2009]

I have serious ethical issues with director Kadri Kõusaar and Mr Laisk and I 100% agree with Estonian court's decision about invasion of privacy. Yet I was ready to give "Magnus" a try. But this movie is so bad that I am sure nobody would ever care talking about it if director didn't make a bad choice to pick real father of poor boy that committed suicide to play role of father in her movie. During only one screening "Magnus" got in Estonia (me and 3 friends attended) most people in theatre walked out after 20-30 minutes. Main problems (aside ethical) why I really did not like it - young pop star with no acting experience who played Magnus role was extremely unconvincing. Other actors - ever poorer performances. Photography - particularly monotonous with moments of pure lethargy. Now I can definitely say that "Magnus" is worst Estonian movie I have ever seen. All my friends and family in Estonia also give this movie not more than 1-2 stars. I am 30 years old, I am Estonian and this year I study for my Masters degree in USA. If you are looking for some good films by Estonian directors try "Sügisball" (it means Autumn Ball), director Veiko Õunpuu. Also try see "Klass", director Ilmar Raag.  It is drama film about young people and very depressing (you will cry 100%) but is real work of art unlike "Magnus".

Genre: depressing - Implementation: courageous & effective

[nigel-352 · 10/10 · 17 December 2008]

First off, I couldn't watch a film of this genre every day, without feeling seriously depressed myself! Very few directors focus on the issue of teenage suicide, perhaps because emotions are contagious. However, once we accept what this film is about, you'll understand why I feel the implementation is excellent. What comes first always shines brightest, and that is just desserts to a team with the courage to cover this genre, even as it remains unpopular. There is teenage angst resembling Jake Gyllenhaal's Donnie Darko and spontaneous humour grounding Magnus's melancholy in our common world. Just as the Mayflower that first brought the English Separatists to America enjoys precedence over the QE2 luxury cruise liner, so this film has bravely staked its claim in virgin territory that a big budget film can now only imitate.

The voting system only works for this film once you've accepted the genre as legitimate for artistic expression and comment. I feel the few low marks are an objection to the genre itself, rather than fair comment on the implementation. I would suggest that these accounts divert their criticism from the film Magnus to the genre: "Father and sister feel helpless to respond to teenage boy's lack of desire to carry on living." I would appreciate an outlet for people to vote on genres, so they don't distort the ratings for implementations within genres. As people we are all actors, not all in front of a camera, and the man who experienced a similar dilemma with his son is especially qualified to portray the rôle he does.

The Estonian legal argument that this film invades privacy is tantamount to a conspiracy of silence over the issues of teenage depression and teenage suicide. Maybe some children are born with an innate absence of desire to continue living. Only by free debate and sharing of research can we arrive at the truth on these issues - all the better to promote happiness and prevent suffering.

Pretentious and hollow, "Magnus" never finds a tone and fails to involve. An accomplished failure about children lost to suicide.

[RobertKeronen · 1/10 · 11 December 2009]

I am a huge fan of Eastern European directors, and think that with movies like Ilmar Raag's "Klass", René Vilbre's "I Was Here", and Veiko Õunpuu's "Autumn Ball", Estonia is - without a doubt! - becoming an important new hotbed of quality European cinema. Alas, "Magnus" does NOT fall into the category of Estonian films worth your attention -- a pretentious and hollow effort from writer and director Kadri Kõusaar, Magnus is possibly one of the worst morality plays to have ever hit the big screen. Kõusaar's self-indulgence is rampant, and her clumsy attempts to get us into young Magnus' head simply put us to sleep. Insipid, frustratingly slow, and completely lacking an emotional edge, "Magnus" is also riddled with remarkably bad dialogue: Being of Estonian descent I speak the language fluently, so no, I wasn't going by the English subtitles. Filled with amateurish acting and pedestrian photography ideas that do not resonate with the viewer, this film never finds a tone and completely fails to involve. Boasting sequences that seem disjointed, it begs to be re-cut all over again, possibly by someone professional this time. It took a lot of patience and endurance to get through the whole movie, and at the end it wasn't worth it. At best, "Magnus" can be viewed as an accomplished failure about children lost to suicide.

agree or disagree

[ilusjaimelik · 10/10 · 19 March 2008]

'Magnus' tells a story (based on true story)about a boy who wants to commit suicide and his fat funny father giving his best to change his son's mind: cynicism,drugs,hookers.Nevertheless the father seems quite a cool guy in a weird sort of way.The film leaves open ends:the audience can decide themselves.Very uncomfortable subject and difficult dilemma,it has a tension all the time.There is also very good camera-work and music and especially the father is played by a really good actor.There was something eerie in this film also (like David Lynch style in the bordello scene)Luckily the film is not tragic but has funny scenes too (the father's striptease) The best thing about this film is that you do not forget it,everybody has something to say (agree or disagree)about it.Many people are afraid of slow "art" films but this can be recommended.

More than decent

[inepcia · 8/10 · 28 February 2008]

A good effort from a young director. Some of the previous comments are peculiar. Particularly the ones posted in consecutive days by "different" users from several countries, saying basically the same (making negative personal remarks about the director). For someone in Lebanon and Slovenia and wherever else, people seem to know a lot of details about an obscure celebrity from an obscure country. A personal crusade from a disgruntled former admirer perhaps? Anyway, this is a movie website and the comments should stick to the movies. If you really want to wash dirty laundry, go do it somewhere else. It's not like there isn't plenty of space for that in the internet. And as for accusing the director of being "self-involved"... Does anyone get into any kind of artistic expression without being self-involved?

A good debut, a ridiculous fuss.

[jimmt77 · 8/10 · 28 May 2008]

Being an Estonian myself, I have to begin with by saying that this is one of the very few Estonian films I've seen that I WOULD watch even if it was not an Estonian film - in my opinion, it was well done, especially considering it being Kadri Kõusaar's first film ever, and yes, she is hated in Estonia, but no, I didn't feel her showing off in this film not once. It was Magnus's story and it was told in a beautiful and subtle manner, at times it was a bit artsy and might have contained too may scenes of Kristjan Kasearu (who surprised me quite a bit as well, as I really do not care much about his music) looking all dreamy and disturbing, but overall, it is a film that gets you hooked and does not let go. The bizarreness of dad-son relationship, the easiness with which the film treats the most difficult of subjects (and thus makes them shout and stand up even more), the haunting music - I was taken aback. On the other hand, if you're the type of person who minds when characters are unreal in films (don't have names, for instance) or is shocked by sexual references, it might be a good idea not to watch it after all, I suppose. But I think that for many people, this film makes sense, it clicks, and no, you don't have think that Magnus or his dad are normal or cool or whatever for this to happen - there are other layers to it than just the plot line! Oh yeah, and all the fuss about ethics and court banning the film - I would just like to know where to draw the line. To me, this film was a piece of fiction, probably even more surreal than what one usually gets in a mainstream blockbuster. Of course I'm not involved in the actual story and I have no idea how the mother of the actual boy feels, but it seems to me that now, with all the media attention, it might be even harder for her - and people will want to see the "forbidden fruit" even more. And they will.

When a film touches our hearts with a cold, sub-zero, finger from Estonia.

[templo00 · 10/10 · 29 August 2007]

Magnus is bizarre, unexpected, with characters whose actions are, at times, impossible to understand while,in other occasions, they seem as natural as anything in our everyday life. The plot oscillates between the depressing and the absurd. Does this mean that my comment is negative? No, it's exactly the opposite. The combination of all these elements into an extremely compelling and moving film could only be achieved by a director of true talent. I happened to see it in Cannes by accident, not really knowing what to expect and fell in love. Certainly deserves worldwide attention and I'll surely be looking forward for her next one.

truth

[smoke-51 · 9/10 · 27 February 2008]

I have seen the film and must admit that it is very good attempt for someone who is making her debut. Fact that film is related with really happened story does not weaken the film itself. It is story of father who have made mistake and throughout this film he shares us his pain. But we must not forget that it is still a truth of art not the reality. And also note that if we didn't know that father character is played by origin person - there would never come out any question of ethics. It makes us think of it and about many other things. And that is important for me!

Nice film with excellent camera work.

magnus

[prijak · 10/10 · 6 September 2007]

Hi I,m from Sarajevo. Work as photographer. You can see some of my works on www.branaprejak.co.ba. On Sarajevo Film Festival I saw maybe 15 movies. Mostly I be disappointed because a lot of movies it was without any ideas, atmosphere or anything for attention. One of the movies which i really like is Magnus from Estonia. It,s true story about guy who all life prepare himself for death. Relation between he and his father its really interesting. Also its really good that father acting really father not actor and it,s way to make you story so close that you can feel real relation between father and son. Its really strong story full of emotion. I give best vote for this movie Now and on SFF Because it worthy that Hope so that you see this movie and hope so that you like it All the best

Absolutely mesmerizing

[stella-innocente · 10/10 · 29 February 2008]

There are not so many films that would haunt me for hours and days after watching them, but "Magnus" is definitely one of those rare cases. The film hypnotizes you with its sheer sincerity and poetic beauty. The intimate way how the father and son are shown, their fears, doubts and dreams, their awkward attempts to communicate. This film reminded me of my own personal pains, as I also happened to become a mother when I was too young and focused on my career, rather than on my daughter. "Magnus" should be mandatory to all would-be parents! One of the most subtle, humane and socio critical films which I have recently seen.