The Lake (1999) User Reviews (6)

This was just annoying to watch

[simpson-b-148-618541 · 4/10 · 24 February 2012]

This is actually the first film I write a review for. Not because it was great but because I was really, really frustrated the whole time watching this piece of garbage.

The film is about a woman who returns to her village to find out what happened to her father, who disappeared and died. The villagers aren't really keen on telling the story so she decides she wants to find out her self. And that's where the drama, in a negative way, begins.

This woman is just plain stupid. And the fact that this film starts by showing us who the murderers are and that they hide the body of her father in the lake near his house makes this even more awful for us to watch. Some examples: A man drowns in the lake and the partner of the woman finds a shoe with a foot inside of it. The foot falls back into the water. And as a result, they don't even bother telling the police. If they did, they would have searched the lake, found the body and started an investigation. But no, that would be to realistic for THIS film... Also, the whole village seems to hate her father. And with every negative thing the people have to say about him. Despite that they tell her why they hate him and give good arguments, he sabotaged many lives and stuff, she tells them they are wrong and that her father was a great great man. The woman becomes obsessed with finding out what happened to her father. Which doesn't turn out that well for her character development. This woman becomes a total bitch to everyone she knows and meets. Right to the point where you, as the watcher, want to punch her in the face and put her right next to her dead father in the lake. This character becomes so annoying to watch that you lose all interest in her goal. Finding out what happened to her father. You will not have a single bit of sympathy left for her. Instead, the side characters become more likable. Even though they want to make her leave their village. Or at a certain point attempt to rape her. And if the attempting rapist becomes more likable due to his personal tragedy, you are doing something very, very wrong as a writer.

(the man used to have a relation with the woman, then she left to England for work or something and he still thinks they are together because her father tells so, this is not the case because he lies. Just for the sake of it I guess)

And I agree with the villagers. I would not like to have this woman harassing everybody, making them care for a dead person they hate, in MY village.

But in the end, the killers are dead due to their own failures and mistakes. We have found out that the father indeed terrorised people, hit his wive, molested his daughter, our protagonist, and, in short, was just an asshole. Which makes us even wonder more why the woman becomes so obsessed in finding out how he died.

After watching this movie I felt the need to scream at the TV. I simply can not stand this much stupidity in one single film. This really is the stuff internet reviewers use to make jokes of in their "bad movie review".

Stay away from this and use your time to watch better Scandinavian films.

4/10

Looks good

[rlaine · 5/10 · 23 September 2009]

Watched this from a local movie channel after developing a liking to Swedish crime stories. The setup is intriguing, cinematography takes good use of countryside Sweden and is actually quite a treat on your eyes most of the time.

Story evolves around a woman who returns to her home village to sell the family estate after her dad has gone missing and is pronounced dead. The woman eventually starts to suspect there is some foul play involved.

The plot is pretty simple mystery, but to me most of the characters act irrationally which makes the story less enjoyable. There are numerous scenes where you feel the characters would act differently in reality.

There's also this strange, mildly supernatural factor of the father haunting at the lake. For a pure mystery, some of the stuff happening was unexplainable or the explanation wasn't very believable. How do you get your foot cut off after drowning in a small pond? For a supernatural thriller, it just wasn't supernatural enough.

Having said all this, the scenery and atmosphere compensate for the mediocre story and somewhat stereotypical characters.

Not a crime story as we know it - like it or hate it

[bcm-2 · 10 May 2002]

A different story.

From the very beginning You'll get the answer to the murder plot, but the revealing of the motives, the coherences and the scenes might thrill you.

Lisa's father seems to crawl back to life to fulfil his revenge. Also Lisa finds herself acting like her father and then felt being catapulted to her childhood, next embraced by her pre-adultness - feeling comfortable and like a strange at the same time.

The murderers are trying to cover each other and to hide their deed, yet the dead ones will not rest until buried in holy earth ...

Sjön is not a crime story as you know it, maybe it isn't at all. Maybe it's a hell-of-a-story, literally, and you will find yourself liking or hating it.

I like it, even the plot isn't a plot as we know it and all in all the whole thing isn't a haunted house tale, a tale of revenge and love or a ghost story.

But after watching it, I had dulled feelings and strange thoughts spinning through my head - and that happens only when a movie touches me.

I'm Not Impressed

[kalthor · 1/10 · 27 February 2000]

The movie starts with a murder and you know through the whole movie who the murderers are. You find yourself waiting for the daughter to find out who killed her father. Another weird thing is the dead father, is he haunting the lake or what?

Worth seeing

[dim404 · 7/10 · 15 March 2002]

Regina Lund played well and the photo was pretty good. The atmosphere very Swedish about life in a village and all the secrets and all things people don´t want to talk about, very realistic in my opinion. It+s a description of someone coming to painful insight. The heroine´s daddy was a bully and a child molester, among other unpleasant things.It´s not a masterpiece but it´s fair cinema.

Very creepy - of excellent making

[sara_joan_1 · 10/10 · 25 June 2008]

Although being a thriller, this movie really lets you get to know the characters, and they are believable and they feel real. They aren't just each assigned one characteristic, but they are real people, each with their own faults. You are drawn into the lives of the characters, and the discovery of who they are, and their actions feel real - this could really be.

This film will hold you in your seat until it's done, and you will sit on edge until it's over. It is so creepy scary, yet you cannot stop watching it, because you just have to find out what really happened. Who was her father, really?

It felt real, and it had quality acting, and it scared the wits out of me. I like movies, but I generally don't get affected by them. But this one... I swore I will NEVER live by a little lake like this one, after I saw this movie.