Birgitta Andersson Movies

The police are characteristically clumsy and the trio of thieves at the heart of this farce are at least partially inept, the comedy somehow falls between the cracks. Sickan Jonsson (Gosta Ekman Jr.) is the head of the trio of thieves, Ragnar (Ulf Brunnberg) and Dynamite Harry (Bjorn Gustafson) bring up the rear. Even though the three of them are probably worse off than Jonsson alone, they still take on a scam that involves a business magnate and his plan to sell a top-of-the-line piece of electronics to Russia. The Jonsson League is clearly out of their league on that one, and in several other schemes they devise to make a quick "kronor". ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

The real Rakenstam, the subject of this fictional treatment of his life from 1942-1945 before his imprisonment, had romantic liaisons with hundreds of women over a three-year period and managed to scam large amounts of money from 120 of them, thriving off each one and somehow managing to make each believe she was the only woman in his life. He was 42 at the time he started these exploits, and even after he was caught because of a blackmailer, the women not only refused to sue him, but they filled his jail cell with roses. While his deception was a work in progress, there were many moments of anxiety (he had been engaged to two of the women) as he tried to juggle the women, pay off the blackmailer, and maintain his identity as a businessman or banker. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Rarely does a film do homage to a serious artist through the medium of a madcap farce, as this one does; however, Picasso was known for an irreverent and ribald sense of humor which is quite in line with this Swedish film, Picassos Aeventyr. In a skit recounting his birth, a woman's heavy breathing is demonstrated to have nothing to do with childbirth. Another skit features an appearance by Alice B. Toklas and Gertrude Stein, played by two very masculine men in dowdy drag. In one particularly irreverent scene, Dr. Albert Schweitzer operates on Picasso. Picasso (Goesta Ekman) himself escapes the excessive commercialization of his works through a kind of suicidal self-transcendance. Told in a stripped-down mixture of French, Spanish and English, most will have no difficulty understanding the film's humor. Picassos Aeventyr is done in a style which has been compared that of Mel Brooks; as with Brooks' works, and some might not appreciate its broad humor. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

This Swedish satire/fantasy presciently lampoons the high-minded scheme of a multinational conglomerate to transform a large section of Sweden into a nature preserve and vacation resort, long before such issues arose in the development of Disney World/Paris. The corporation intends to transform a region of Sweden into "Angel Territory." The locals look favorably on the idea until they begin to consider who would benefit from this change. As that would only be those who are the already wealthy land and business owners, they come to oppose the scheme. The mystical beasts of Sweden, including giants, enlist on the side of these people, and battle the corporation, the rich of the region, and dragons. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide