Lasse Summanen Movies
- 2002
Iranian-born Swedish actress Susan Taslimi makes her directorial debut with the comedy drama Hus i Helvete (All Hell Let Loose). As the patriarch of an immigrant family in Stockholm, Serbani's (Hassan Brijany) traditional values come into conflict with the freedom desired by the women in his life. His wife, Nana (Caroline Rauf), wants to start up a career. His daughter Gita (Melize Karige) is about to get married so she can have sex. When his eldest daughter, Minoo (Melinda Kinnaman), comes home from the U.S. for the wedding, he finds out she was working as a stripper and not studying law. The ensuing drama is observed by the wise grandmother. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Melinda Kinnaman, Hassan Brijany, (more)
This moving, finely-wrought portrayal of legendary cinematographer Sven Nykvist was directed by his son Carl-Gustav Nykvist -- a noted filmmaker himself. Spanning from long forgotten kiddie flick in 1945 to Woody Allen's Celebrity (1997), Nykvist's career came to an abrupt end when he was diagnosed with a rare disorder that affects his speech. Though the film explores Nykvist's upbringing and turbulent private life (an ugly divorce, the suicide of one of his sons, an affair with Mia Farrow), the emotional heart of the film is his celebrated collaboration with auteur Ingmar Bergman, with whom Nykvist made some of his most enduring work, including Winter Light (1962) and Scenes from a Marriage (1973). As Bergman recalls his own career, he notes, "I don't miss making films, but I miss the collaboration with Sven." ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Woody Allen, Bibi Andersson, (more)
- 1996
Twenty-three-year-old Christina Sanchez is the best female bullfighter in Spain. This fascinating Swedish documentary takes a look at her life inside and outside the ring. Some viewers may be disturbed because the filmmakers take objective view of the controversial sport. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1995
Chronicled in this dark, intellectually demanding drama are the devastating effects of a child's death on a Swedish family. The death occurs while the family vacations on the Danish coast. The parents, Torun and Mikael, are accompanied by their two young sons, and Torun's sister, Ellen. One afternoon, Ellen, who is supposedly watching the boys play by the water, falls asleep and awakens to discover that one of the boys has drowned. Now she, as well as Torun and Mikael must pick up the shattered pieces of their lives. Torun, blames Ellen and herself for the death, while Ellen is consumed with guilt. Time passes and Torun and Mikael become uncommunicative. Torun refuses to express her grief, and the lonely Mikael becomes lovers with Ellen, not for affection, but as an expression of their pain and need for comfort. The situation comes to a head when Torun finally learns about the affair. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1991
- NR
Based on a true story, the bleak period piece Oxen was co-written and directed by Ingmar Bergman's longtime cinematographer Sven Nykvist. In the small village of Småland in the late 1860s, Helge Roos (Stellan Skarsgård) works as a farmer on an estate belonging to Svenning Gustafsson (Lennart Hjulström) and his wife (Liv Ullmann). Plagued by a terrible famine, Helge illegally kills one of the Gustaffson's last oxen so his own family can eat. He and his wife, Elfrida (Ewa Fröling), feel guilty about it, but the meat keeps them alive through the winter. When he tries to sell the hide in the spring, a clergyman (Max Von Sydow) finds out and encourages him to confess. The judge sentences Helge to a life of manual labor at the state prison for his crime. When he is finally pardoned and released after six years, he returns home to Elfrida to find out that she has been supporting the family by performing sexual services, which has resulted in the birth of another child. In the 1970s, Von Sydow and Ullmann appeared together in a set of films also dealing with the Swedish famine in Jan Troell's The Emigrants and The New Land. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Stellan Skarsgård, Ewa Fröling, (more)
- 1990
The dark recesses of a troubled psyche come to the light of day in this psychological thriller. In the story, Richard (Boman Oscarsson) is a young international art smuggler, who moves into the apartment of his cartoonist half-brother, who has disappeared. Once established there, increasingly strange mental states arise in his mind, and he sees (or seems to see) strange things going on around him. In addition, he has difficult encounters with his ailing mother and with a former girlfriend. As the experiences grow more numerous and intense, he decides that it is vital for his sanity that he discover what has become of his missing brother. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Boman Oscarsson
- 1989
The English-language title of this Swedish costume drama is The Women on the Roof. Set in 1914 Stockholm, the film explores the friendship between Austrian photographer Helena Bergstrom and farm girl Amanda Ooms. Despite their radically different backgrounds, both learn a lot about life from one another until their relationship is strained by the intrusive presence of Anna's boyfriend (Stellan Skarsgard). The director/co-writer of Kvinnorna Pa Taket is Carl-Gustaf Nykvist, son of celebrated cinematographer Sven Nykvist. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Amanda Ooms, Helena Bergström, (more)
- 1988
This documentary of Andrei Tarkovsky was done by the co-editor of his last movie The Sacrifice. Michal Lecszylowski interviews Tarkovsky, considered the most important and influential Soviet director of the post-World War II era. Interviews with his widow in addition to television interviews of the legendary director give insight into the vision and inspirations for his films. The last days before his death from cancer in December 1986 were spent in Paris, France. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- 1987
This plodding, depressing drama concerns the 19th-century painters who were collectively know as the Skaw (or Skagen) Colony. The group rejected the Impressionist style of painting, opting for the realism of natural light and using the lives of the poor fishing villagers as their inspiration. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Stellan Skarsgård
- 1979
A British writer goes to live in a Spanish village while he looks into the mysterious life of a 19th century wanderer who was allegedly slain by La Sabina, a mythical lady dragon. The writer becomes lovers with an American visitor and then falls in love with an enigmatic beauty from town. Things get really confusing when the writer's good friend arrives with his wife. When the writer's all-out campaign to seduce the local woman fails, tragedy ensues. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Carol Kane, Jon Finch, (more)
