Thursday 21 April 2011

Den som lever får se 2 (2010) - Daniel Bergman & Sverker Persson



Half as long, twice as good. That's the blurb on the sleeve of the DVD, and you know what, I couldn't have put it better myself. If you've seen the first instalment of Bergman & Persson's skate series then you'll know what to expect. If you haven't then basically the directors along with an assorted motley crew of friends, dazzle and amaze as they skate around various urban areas in Sweden. Sometimes they fall flat on their arses, but for the most part they do things that seem physically impossible to the average person.

For me part of the fun of viewing this is spotting the locations, since so many are in the city I live in - Malmö. There are a whole run of stunts that take place down in the regenerated harbour for instance. Now I wouldn't even walk near the waters edge there, since there is a sheer drop down into the freezing water. These loons though skate quite happily along flipping their decks as they go. It's wonderful to watch. I caught myself grinning like someone on E several times as I watched this. All the way through you just find yourself willing the people in the film to achieve what they are trying to attempt. For the most part they do, but when things go wrong the results look painful and in one case costly, (Daniel Bergman snapping his deck in two).

As with the first 'film', this is well filmed and edited, 20 minutes is a perfect running time too, just long enough to make you want more. The thing that really shines through most though is just how much the skaters in this film love what they're doing. There seems to be a hardcore dedication to being a skateboarder, all those cuts and bruises must be worth it when that perfect ollie or boardslide is caught on film. It's this idea of capturing a moment in time that makes these small films so important. I love the idea of some kid in 50 years stumbling across something like this, and seeing what life was like back in the 00's. If you do get a chance to see this, then make sure you watch right to the end, since one of the best scenes in the film comes after the credits, and it's got bugger all to do with skateboards. Well it made me laugh anyway. From what I hear part three is already being filmed. What more could you want?

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