A story that grew in intensity and worth as the film progressed, from being a fairly innocuous, yet dirty-old-lady trashy jaunt with seediness prevalent at every corner about a boy who has an affair with an older woman, to becoming one of morale, perspective and ethics.

I can honestly say that I much more enjoyed the flow and general feel of the film more than I did regarding the story itself. The technical aspects didn’t make any sort of impression on me, as the omniscient musical score. Winslet winning an Oscar for her part leaves me asking why, but she performed well.

All in all, the progression was nice, and as a Swede I must add that I didn’t recognise Lena Olin, but I did recognise a Swedish accent among all the faux-German ones.

Kudos to Ralph Fiennes for tricking me into thinking he was Liam Neeson for most of the film.

It was also weird to see Bruno Ganz – who played Adolf Hitler in “Der Untergang” – and Fiennes – who played a prominent Auschwitz commendant in “Schindler’s List” – in the WW2-parts of the film. Just me, I guess.