Jan Mybrand Movies
- 1987
This biting satire of high-level military corruption concerns the problems of a small town located next to a training camp. Army regulars make a quick profit by replacing an old engine of a farm vehicle with the new one stolen from the base. When the group is confronted by their commander, they cut him in on the profits and avoid being disciplined. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Thomas Hanzon, Tomas Fryk, (more)
- 1990
Inger (Helena Bergström), a single mother, has decided to return to her father's home from her life in Stockholm and sort out her life. Unfortunately, her father has grown restless, too, and is planning to sell the family house and move away, so she cannot stay long. To pass the time, she hangs out at the local dance hall. There, she dangles one man on a leash while she courts the drummer in the dance-hall band (Carl Kjellgren). She thinks that theirs is a romance beyond all others. He thinks of it merely as a pleasant affair. Eventually, she figures that out and moves back to Stockholm, and regrets stringing the second, nicer, man along. There was something epochal in the meeting of these two people however, and the band members recognize that something important has changed. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Helena Bergström, Jan Mybrand, (more)
- 1992
- R
House of Angels is a comedy about prejudice in a small Swedish town. The owner of the farm Änglagård is killed in an automobile accident, and the community is surprised and outraged when his granddaughter turns up at the funeral to claim the farm. Fanny (Helena Bergström) is a leather-jacketed cabaret performer from Berlin, and she lives with her gay biker buddy, Zac (Rikard Wolff). Many members of the community are horrified and make no bones about it. Appearances aren't everything, however. Fanny and Zac are far from the drugged-out weirdos they seem to be, and slowly but surely, the community accepts them. Expat British director Colin Nutley manages to forge strong, well-developed characters from these stereotypical origins. ~ John Voorhees, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Helena Bergström, Rikard Wolff, (more)
- 1995
This Swedish comedy is a sequel to the 1992 international hit movie, House of Angels. It continues the story of Fanny and Zak, a formerly down and out couple that finds wealth when Fanny inherits a large house from her grandfather who lived in a small, unfriendly village. Fanny, whose father is unknown, eventually charmed the whole town with two old men, Ivar and Axel, gladly coming forth to claim her paternity. Now, it is one year later and Fanny and Zak have just returned from a world-tour. Unfortunately, while she was gone, her house burned down. Ivar who won a lottery, takes his brother Gottfrid and the returned couple with him to New York where he will visit his other brother, Sven. While the foursome grows accustomed to New York, the villagers continue to ponder the true identity of Fanny's father. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1996
A group of messianic pilgrims abandon their native Sweden and emigrate to Palestine. This fact-based episodic Swedish drama looks at the events leading up to the trek and the immigrants' experiences after they arrive in the holy land. The story begins in Sweden and is introduced by the death of Big Ingmar, the leader of a small farming community. Shortly thereafter, his eldest daughter Karin sends Ingmar's namesake son to be raised by another family so she can control the family farm. Years pass and Ingmar grows up to fall in love with his beauteous "step-sister" Gertrud. But the romance never fully blooms, for Ingmar must leave to earn the money he needs to buy his father's farm back from Karin. About this time, the local village is plagued by a series of ominous disasters that begin with Karin's sudden paralysis. In the midst of the ensuing superstition and chaos, a charismatic, hellfire-and-brimstone preacher shows up, and some family members begin converting to his cause. Karin becomes a true follower when the preacher prays and she is "miraculously" healed. Ingmar eventually returns to find a very different village. With not enough money to buy the farm, he marries a wealthy young woman. Broken-hearted Gertrud immediately joins the preacher's cult and decides to follow him to Palestine to await Christ's Second Coming. Three months after she leaves, a recently divorced Ingmar arrives in Palestine to try to win her back. That is but one story line among many that transpire as the pilgrims struggle with survival in their strange new homeland. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Maria Bonnevie, Ulf Friberg, (more)
- 1998
Stjarnsystrar is a children's film about three girls who are born on the same night in a hospital in the north of Sweden. In the sky, a bright star lights up the night. All three girls are given the name of Johanna. They grow up with no knowledge of each other, and yet they are bound by a strange feeling of longing. Eight years later, on the day of the Rose Festival, strange circumstances bring them together. Structured in three parts, the film is constructed like a fairy-tale with each segment focusing on the individual personalities. Screened at the Children's Film festival at the 49th International Berlin Film Festival, 1999. ~ Gönül Dönmez-Colin, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Teresa Niva, Vania Panes Lundmark, (more)
- 2000
Mans Herngren directs this quiet, sad family comedy about love and jealousy. The film focuses on a trio of sisters: Sophia (Josefin Nilsson), who is expecting a child with her significant other Freddie (Jacob Ericksson); Gina (Marie Richardson), who is married to Roffe (Peter Dalle) and remains childless in spite of their best efforts; and Tina (Cecilia Frode), who has had several kids by larcenous deadbeat Pulver (Peter Wahlbeck). The sisters' mother Solveig (Bibi Andersson) remains an overbearing presence in their lives, continually giving out unwanted advice, while their father Tage (Gosta Ekman) is a withdrawn man who quietly longs for something new. After Sophia gives birth, she accepts a starring role on a TV crime drama, though she tells Freddie that it will not interfere with her child-rearing duties. Soon, however, Sophia's job demands more and more of her time, forcing her to fob off her baby onto her mother and Tina. Meanwhile, Gina seethes with envy over her elder sister's biological productivity, straining her marriage to Roffe. At the same time, Tage suddenly takes up jogging -- to the surprise of everyone. Later, the women of the family discover the reason for his sudden interest in exercise -- he as a much younger mistress. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Josefin Nilsson, Marie Richardson, (more)
- 2000
A young woman is torn between her father's culture and her desire to make her own life in this drama. Nazil (Sara Sommerfeld) and Mahin (Aminah Al-Fakin) are two teenage girls growing up in Sweden under the watchful eye of their Iranian-born father, Abbas (Said Oveissi). Abbas is proud of his Iranian heritage and tries to instill in his daughters a respect for their history, but Nazil and Mahin feel more comfortable with Sweden's relatively relaxed cultural mores. Abbas thinks it's time his daughters begin thinking about marriage, and with this in mind he introduces them to a pair of Iranian men. Nazil discovers that Hamid (Rafael Edholm), the man her father is trying to fix her up with, is actually her cousin, an idea that she hardly finds appealing. Hamid runs a video-rental store, and he offers Nazil a job; while she wants to keep her distance from him, she also wants money to buy a motorbike, so she takes the job. Nazil soon begins dating Johan (Alexander Skarsgard); Abbas is furious, and his wrath is not eased when Nazil explains her reasons for not wanting to become involved with Hamid. Vingar Av Glas was the first feature from writer and director Reza Bagher, who is an Iranian expatriate; it was shot on Digital Video, and transferred to 35 mm film for theatrical distribution.
~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Alexander Skarsgård
- 2007
An actress tells a little white lie to land a plum role only to find the truth catches up with her in this comedy/drama from Sweden. Bella (Martina Haag) is inching into her forties, and doesn't feel as if she has much to show for it in her personal and professional lives. Bella learns that Ingmar Bergman will be directing a new stage adaptation of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, and she decides to take a chance and show up for an open audition. After Bella's reading, one of the members of the production staff asks if she has a background in acrobatics. Eager to land the part, Bella says yes, and to her delight she's cast in a small role while striking up a romance with another member of the troupe (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau). However, with each passing day Bella becomes increasingly aware that if she doesn't tell someone that she doesn't know the first thing about acrobatics, her esteemed director will find out the hard way. Underbar Och Alskad Av Alla (aka Wonderful and Loved by All) was based on a novel by Martina Haag, who appears at Bella in this screen adaptation. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Martina Haag, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, (more)
- 2009
With a premise that recalls Dean Parisot's 1999 Galaxy Quest, the goofy Swedish-language sci-fi farce Kenny Begins concerns the Galaxy Hero Academy, where students train to qualify as space adventurers-cum-heroes. Into this environment marches Kenny Starfighter (Johan Rheborg) an individual so utterly inept that he qualifies as hopeless and causes an endless array of complications. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Johan Rheborg, Bill Skarsgård, (more)
