Bjorn Granath Movies

In this visually inventive thriller, Hanna (Angieszka Koson) is a struggling journalist who works for a sleazy newspaper while searching for something better and has fun making life difficult for her editor, Hasse (Yvonne Lombard). One day, Hanna discovers that the police have found the remains of three severely burned corpses in a bonfire; detectives are wondering if this might have anything to do with the mysterious disappearance of several women in town. Dan (Fredrik Dolk), whose girlfriend recently went missing, has written a letter to Hanna's editor about this situation; Dan is upset about the pattern of disappearances, but he has enough on his mind, as he's working two jobs trying to pay the alimony demanded by his ex-wife Margareta (Marika Lagercrantz). In time, Hanna meets Dan and finds herself drawn into his increasingly complex world as she tries to avoid her obsessive former boyfriend Martin (Johan Widerberg) and finds herself learning more about what could be happening to the missing women. Director David Flamholc and cinematographer Marten Nilsson took a unique approach to this film's photography; it was shot in 16mm using reversal stock, and then blown up to 35mm widescreen format, using various processing techniques to give it an unusual color balance and texture. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Though only active in early Swedish cinema for two years, filmmaker Georg af Klercker was prolific and influential. Between 1916 and late 1918, he made 10 shorts and 18 feature-length movies in his independent studio. Klercker was forcibly bought out by his chief competitor Charles Magnusson in 1918. Largely because Magnusson preferred the work of directors Victor Sjostrom and Mauritz Stiller, Klercker's work has been all but forgotten. But Sweden's best-known director Ingmar Bergman did not forget and in 1994 penned a one-act play about Klercker. This brief drama is an adaptation of that play and is set a few years after the sale of his studio. With his career in shambles, Klercker returns to Magnusson's studio to beg him for a chance to direct again. While drinking too much of Magnusson's liquor, Klercker's pleas become increasingly desperate and unpleasant tirades about past indignities levelled upon him by Magnusson, who sits quietly by and allows Klercker to verbally hang himself. The actual production lasts 45 minutes. A 10-minute film about Klercker and early Swedish film precedes the story. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

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

This Swedish thriller focuses on a love triangle and insurance fraud. Christer, a cab driver, finds his peaceful life in upheaval after a new couple moves into his small town. The woman is a quadriplegic and despite that, Christer finds himself falling in love with her. A graphic murder ensues and Christer is blamed. But did he do it? ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

The Jönsson gang are a crew of lovable thieves who somehow always end up with the loot, despite being laughably incompetent. This is the sixth family comedy featuring this goofy gang. In this movie, they have a new leader, Dr. M.A. Busé, a medical doctor who has had to leave the practice of medicine. The old gang leader knew he was losing his own mental faculties, but before he went completely around the bend he designated the doctor to carry on in his stead. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

Guiseppe (Paolog Migone), living in Italy in the 1950s, knows that he is poor and his country is poor. Nonetheless, he has a little romance going on with Maria and passes much of his time pleasantly enough, playing billiards at a local eatery. However, when he hears from his friend Franco that Sweden is a "paradise" and that he can earn big money there, he picks up stakes and heads to this unlikely land of milk and honey. He gets his first intimation of things to come when he and other immigrants from southern Europe are routinely deloused at the border. Then he heads off into the countryside to find his friend Franco. It turns out that he works at a pretty grim factory for lower wages than he had bragged of, and that "paradise" consists of a barracks that the immigrant workers live in. All the same, Guiseppe gets a job at the factory and tries to make the best of it. However, not only is his daily billiards game not possible, but the local people take a dim view of Italians dating their women -- especially if the women are married. It's soon time for him to consider moving back to his home. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

Long but rewarding, the Danish-Swedish Pelle the Conqueror is based on the early passages of Martin Andersen Nexoe's four-volume novel. Pelle (Pelle Hvengaard) is the son of a 19th-century Swedish farmer (Max Von Sydow). Seeking escape from their poverty-stricken surroundings, father and son emigrate to Denmark. Upon arrival, however, they are treated like indentured servants, leading to a profound ideological turnaround for the impressionable Pelle. In the original novel, Pelle ended up embracing Communism. Nexo's political overtones are soft-pedalled in the film, which concentrates on the close, indestructable relationship between Pelle and his father. Adapted for the screen by Bille August, Pelle the Conqueror won the 1988 Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This drama concerns the relationship between two brothers, both at first involved in petty crime in one way or another. Kiljan (Joakim Thastrom) is the older of the two siblings who has already changed and is now working at an auto repair shop. His one hope is to steer his younger brother away from a life of crime, and how he goes about it happens quite by accident, literally. He uses an accidental death to get his brother off the hook, though his help may backfire on both of them. Symbolism and animals get a lot of screen play here, though their meaning remains an enigma in many instances. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

The understated farce of director-writer Lasse Aberg occupies center stage in this take-off on a Swiss ski vacation, with all the usual types on and off the slopes. This time the recalcitrant hero Helmer Ohlsson (Aberg) takes a disparate group along to Verbier, Switzerland for a little skiing. Herded around by the usual dictatorial tour guide, the group still manages to encounter enough fun and games to amuse everyone, while any confrontations inevitably lead to manipulative baddies getting their dues. Even the shy, bumbling Helmer seems to come out ahead in this sequel to the highly successful Package Tour -- he actually gets the woman he wants. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

This Swedish film concerns itself with the anti-establishment anarchistic pranks played by the rootless, quasi-hippie generation of its time (1972). Among the events filmed are a stink-bombing, and an olfactorily offensive siege of a bank. The response of the Swedes to these tricks is the most interesting thing about the film. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide