Per Mattsson Movies
- 1988
A young boy wandering with a band of gypsies is endangered when a royal proclamation grants people permission to shoot gypsies on sight. Benny Haag plays Inge and his twin brother Arild, the latter who fights with his father against the "undesirables." The father sends mercenaries to wipe out the gypsies, unaware his own son is among those slated to be executed when captured. The gypsies are portrayed as the heroes, while the blonde Swedes are clearly the enemy. Although this story takes place in the 16th century, parallels between the story and the intolerance of Swedes to foreign workers in the 1980s is evident. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi
- Starring:
- Benny Haag, Melinda Kinnaman, (more)
- 1987
In this drama, based on a stage play by Agneta Pleijel, an entire family, including grandparents, their children, and the grandchildren (and their lovers, husbands and wives) have gathered to celebrate the family matriarch's birthday. In this dialogue-heavy production, the celebration provides the discontented family members with an opportunity to voice their complaints about their lives and against one another as loudly as possible. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi
- Starring:
- Sif Ruud, Margareta Byström, (more)
The internationally produced The Inside Man was inspired by a true story. In 1981, a Soviet submarine ran aground on the coast of Sweden. The sub was carrying a hush-hush laser search device, which promptly vanished. In this 1984 recreation of the incident, Dennis Hopper is cast as the CIA agent assigned to track down the missing laser. Aided by young assistant Gosta Ekman Jr., Hopper finds himself in a life-and-death struggle with a variety of foreign agents, each with his own agenda. Hardy Kruger co-stars in this rugged adventure yarn. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Dennis Hopper, Hardy Kruger, (more)
Though he made allusions to his own life in all of his films, Fanny and Alexander was the first overtly autobiographical film by Ingmar Bergman. Taking his time throughout (188 minutes to be exact), Bergman recreates several episodes from his youth, using as conduits the fictional Ekdahl family. Alexander, the director's alter ego, is first seen at age 10 at a joyous and informal Christmas gathering of relatives and servants. Fanny is Alexander's sister; both suffer an emotional shakedown when their recently-widowed mother (Ewa Froling) marries a cold and distant minister. Stripped of their creature comforts and relaxed family atmosphere, Fanny and Alexander suddenly find their childhood unendurable. The kids' grandmother (Gunn Wallgren) "kidnaps" Fanny and Alexander for the purpose of showering them with the first kindness and affection that they've had since their father's death. This "purge" of the darker elements of Fanny and Alexander's existence is accomplished at the unintentional (but applaudable) cost of the hated stepfather's life. Ingmar Bergman insisted that Fanny and Alexander, originally a multipart television series pared down to feature-film length, represented his final theatrical film, though within a year after its release he was busy with several additional Swedish TV projects, and his final work, the 2003 Saraband (also produced for Swedish television), eventually received global theatrical distribution. Oscars went to Fanny and Alexander for Best Foreign Film, Best Cinematography (Sven Nykvist), Best Costume Design and Best Art Direction/Set Decoration. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Pernilla Allwin, Bertil Guve, (more)
- 1982
In 1982, Ingmar Bergman emerged with one of his most singularly acclaimed films - a work that dramatically broke away from much of the moody psychodrama that characterized such earlier motion pictures as Cries & Whispers and Hour of the Wolf. Entitled Fanny and Alexander, and originally intended as the director's "swan song," this epic plunges into the life of a theatrical family named the Ekdahls, in turn-of-the-century Sweden. Bergman filters life through the eyes of the two titular Ekdahl children (Pernilla Alwin and Bertil Guve), as they come of age, lose their father unexpectedly, and must contend with their mother's remarriage to an uncaring, dictatorial clergyman from whom there seems to be no escape. Instantly hailed as a masterpiece, Fanny won a slew of international awards, including four Oscars. Yet curiously, the three-hour theatrical version seen in the U.S. did not represent the full depth and breadth of Bergman's vision. He also prepared a five-hour version for Swedish television, one that ran locally as a miniseries in 1984, in four separate installments. The extended running time gives the director to further develop and flesh out his characters, substories and themes, and will thus strike many fans of the original film as a remarkable discovery. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi
- Starring:
- Pernilla Allwin, Bertil Guve, (more)
