In the little town by the name of Høtten, a girl with the Down syndrome is sexually assaulted and murdered and the inhabitants in the town are 100% sure that the crime is committed by two brothers being a part of a family being treated as social outcasts, rightly or wrongly.The two brothers are suddenly missing and when one of them is found drowned, detective Nicholas Ramm (Reidar Sørensen) is sent from Oslo to investigate the case.
He finds that this is easier said than done, as most people in the town seem to have created a human wall against any other theory than the one they are holding, namely that the brothers are guilty and that there is no need for further investigation.
Even the local police have created a 'resistance cell', regarding the newcomer Ramm as a snob and besserwisser not aware of the history of this town, its inhabitants and not least the history around the family being judged beforehand.
In this family we find a young boy, Niklas (Gaute Skjegstad), who is extremely ill-treated by not least the younger part of the town and noone seem to care about him, except his mother.
His brother Baste (Jon Øigarden) tries to hide behind Ramm in order not to be lynched, as he is the second brother, still alive, being suspected of this gruesome crime.
Their father, Raymond (Ingar Helge Gimle) is kidnapped and not only mishandled but castrated by anonymous people, or perhaps not so anonymous.
Ramm tries to start a professional investigation, underlining that noone can be judged only on circumstantial evidence and he wants proofs. Noone among the policemen and the inhabitants are able to prove anything at all, it's just that they "know" that Baste and his brother are the guilty ones.
He finds that this is easier said than done, as most people in the town seem to have created a human wall against any other theory than the one they are holding, namely that the brothers are guilty and that there is no need for further investigation.
Even the local police have created a 'resistance cell', regarding the newcomer Ramm as a snob and besserwisser not aware of the history of this town, its inhabitants and not least the history around the family being judged beforehand.
In this family we find a young boy, Niklas (Gaute Skjegstad), who is extremely ill-treated by not least the younger part of the town and noone seem to care about him, except his mother.His brother Baste (Jon Øigarden) tries to hide behind Ramm in order not to be lynched, as he is the second brother, still alive, being suspected of this gruesome crime.
Their father, Raymond (Ingar Helge Gimle) is kidnapped and not only mishandled but castrated by anonymous people, or perhaps not so anonymous.
Ramm tries to start a professional investigation, underlining that noone can be judged only on circumstantial evidence and he wants proofs. Noone among the policemen and the inhabitants are able to prove anything at all, it's just that they "know" that Baste and his brother are the guilty ones.In his efforts to establish the truth, Ramm is being ridiculed and even beaten-up by masked men.
The film contains a lot of 'mystery' and a lot of bizarre events and violence making it into an almost dreamlike or rather nightmarish story with a rather tragic or - perhaps - just end for the persons involved.
For Ramm it becomes an event that turns his moral upside down, probably the end of his career, if he's not protected by lies and who would protect him?
The film asks important questions about our moral, how to handle terrible crimes and criminals, the societal legal system and its relevance or justification seen in relation to the moral among 'the public'. The film does hereby discuss the often great differences between the judicial system and the way people in general think about crimes and the aftermaths in the form of different degrees of penalty. The difference between a judicial system and its legality and legitimacy.
It also contains a great deal of the Judeo-Christian conception of legality as it's outlined in the Torah: An Eye for An Eye and the conception of having the right to punish not only the criminal but also his family generations to come.
As I (Gunnar) earlier has written on my blog (when we last saw this film), I find this film being very well directed and the acting is superb.
Unfortunately the director Karin Julsrud has not been productive as a director (more as a producer); only two titles. I'll hope she reconsider and continues her directing career.
(Poster with the name and a red car copied from: http://www.cineaster.net/wp-content/uploads/Bloody-Angels.jpg)
(Poster copied from: http://www.boyactors.org.uk/posters/1264.jpg)
(Photo black and white copied from: http://www.austinchronicle.com/binary/7d08/bloodyangels.jpg)
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