Lars Blomgren Movies
- 2008
- R
A married pair of ex-urbanites relocates to a small village in hopes of starting a family, only to receive an unexpected surprise thanks to a mix-up at the adoption agency. Sven and Göran are finally set to realize their shared dream of becoming parents. In preparation, the happy couple even decides to leave city life behind in favor of moving to a quaint village in the country. Unfortunately, the local villagers don't exactly extend a warm welcome to the optimistic couple; while some greet them with outright hostility, most are content simply to shun them. Upon receiving news that the adoption agency was unable to locate a suitable international baby, Sven and Göran agree to take in a local orphan. On paper, Patrik was listed as being age 1.5, though upon meeting their new adopted child it quickly becomes apparent to Sven and Göran that someone misplaced a decimal point. In reality, Patrik is a homophobic 15-year-old juvenile delinquent who's none too happy about being taken in by a pair of aging gay men. Still, Göran recognizes that Patrik needs a home, and agrees to put the openly hostile boy up until he and Sven can find a more suitable place for him to live. But former street punk Sven isn't quite as accommodating due to the fact that he knows well what a young ruffian such as Patrik may be capable of. Over time, Sven's trepidation about Patrik prompts him to confront not only his own misgivings about marriage and suburban living, but his long-buried feelings about his own estranged son from a previous marriage as well. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- 2007
A shameful chapter in Swedish history is brought to light in this powerful drama. In 1934, Sweden instituted a law that permitted authorities to require the sterilization of people considered to be unfit to have children. While the official justification for the regulation was to prevent the spread of inherited disease, in many cases young women who were from poor families, were thought to be promiscuous or were believed to have low IQ's found themselves placed in state institution where they were forced to have their tubes tied. In 1951, Gertrud (Julia Hogberg) is a naïve teenager from a large family who is sent to a state home for the retarded. Gertrud doesn't fully understand why she is there or what being sterilized means, but many of her fellow inmates do -- one is living with epilepsy, some come from poverty-stricken backgrounds, while others are mentally ill. All the young women are told they will remain in the home until they agree to be sterilized, and Getrud begins to feel it's a fair trade for being able to return home. However, things take a dramatic turn when she falls in love with one of the groundskeepers, Axel (Christoffer Svensson), and she finds she's become pregnant. Den Nya Manniskan (aka The New Man) was inspired by actual events that occurred under Sweden's forced sterilization laws, which remained on the books until 1976. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Julia Hogberg, Maria Lundquist, (more)
- 2006
Busted by authorities while attempting to gain entry into Stockholm's Royal Dramatic Theater and subsequently transported to a remote retirement community, senile former stage director Walter Jan Malmsjo) attempts to stage a geriatric production of Romeo and Juliet in hopes of impressing ageing diva resident Virginia (Ghita Norby), who longs to assume the role of Shakespeare's ill-fated heroine one last time, in director Suzanne Osten's warmhearted tribute to the films of Ingmar Bergman. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jan Malmsjö, Ghita Nørby, (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)
- 2000
Director Harald Hamrell makes his sophomore effort with this spooky thriller for kids. Eight-year old Maria's (Karin Bogaeus) younger brother Lillen is a major nuisance, so when her best friend Makka (Rebecca Scheja) claims that she can make a crystal ball that makes wishes come true, Maria wishes for her brother to vanish. The next day, an old woman named Gerda (Margerth Weivers) gets hired as Maria's new babysitter. Soon Maria and Rebecca are convinced that Gerda is a witch summoned by the ball to seize little Lillen and eat him for dinner. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tin-Tin Anderzon, Margreth Weivers, (more)
- 1999
In what has to be one of the worst ideas in Christmas party planning history, Swedish house wife Sara (Katarina Ewerlof) decides to celebrate the yuletide season with her three ex-husbands and their families. Though her current spouse Janne (Peter Haber) initially is quite opposed, he eventually gives in. At first, the party -- filled with adults and children alike -- recalls the gauzy warmth of the famous Christmas scene in Fanny and Alexander (1982). Then the booze kicks in. Families start infighting. Janne grows increasingly annoyed as the guests make repeated references to having sex with his wife. And during dinner, Sara announces that she is pregnant. This strikes Janne as odd considering that he had a vasectomy a year before. Soon the party devolves into utter chaos. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Peter Haber, Leif Andree, (more)
- 1998
Based on the novel by the pseudonymous "John W. Grow," this drama is the first feature to examine the unsolved murder of Swedish Prime Minister Olof Palme, who was shot in February of 1986 as he walked through the center of Stockholm with his wife. Troubled police officer Roger (Mikael Persbrandt) is on the brink of a breakdown, and his pal Bo (Reine Brynolfsson) gets an order to find out the problem. Roger relates how he almost prevented Palme's murder, and the tale then flashes back to the beginnings of the conspiracy and the killer (Michael Kitchen) in Malta. While the novel fingers a leader in the Swedish business community as the manipulator of the murder, the film evades this point. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mikael Persbrandt, Michael Kitchen, (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)
- 1997
Stockholm policeman Martin Beck (Peter Haber), created by novelists Maj Sjowall and Per Wahloo, is seen in this thriller about the search for a pedophile who kills his young victims. The Sjowall-Wahloo character has previously been adapted to numerous films by directors Stuart Rosenberg (The Laughing Policeman, 1973), Bo Widerberg (The Man on the Roof, 1976), Gosta Ekman, and others. Beck is a Swedish-German-Danish co-production, the first of a planned series of 16 feature films with all-new stories inspired by the 10 novels in the 1967-76 Beck series by Wahloo (who died in 1975) and Sjowall. Shown at the 1997 Haugesund Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Peter Haber, Mikael Persbrandt, (more)
- 1997
This is the second in the 1997-98 series of films featuring Stockholm Inspector Martin Beck (Peter Haber), the character created by Maj Sjowall and Per Wahloo, in new stories set in present-day Stockholm. In the first part of the series, Beck went after a murdering pedophile. In this follow-up entry, Beck's romantic interlude with a female associate Lena Klingstrom (Stina Rautelin) is interrupted when Beck and his sidekick Gunvald Larsson (Mikael Persbrandt) must move quickly to solve murders happening on Stockholm subway platforms, a situation threatening to cripple transportation throughout the city. This series is comprised of eight movies -- six for television and two for theatrical distribution. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Peter Haber, Mikael Persbrandt, (more)
- 1989
Fans of World War Two history will be attracted to this very long made-for-TV epic drama, which follows a Swedish family during the war. The compromises and privations of wartime are the main focus of the film, and the story includes several unlikely romances. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Helene Egelund, Helena Bergström, (more)
