Göran Stangertz Movies

Swedish director Richard Hobert rounds out his series on the seven deadly sins by inviting most of the main characters from his previous films for a big ol' birthday party. Amid the streamers, party favors, and animal balloons, failed rock star and circus performer Mikael (Goran Stangertz) celebrates his 50th birthday with his longtime girlfriend Calli (Camilla Lunden) and their two kids. Mikeal finally sums up the gumption to ask for Calli's hand in marriage. Unfortunately, she is falling in love with some one else. Meanwhile, Ingrid (Lena Endre) from Run for Your Life returns from a charity gig in Africa, half-blinded by a mosquito bite, while Erik (Jakob Eklund), from the same flick, is looking for his kids. A former divorce victim in Where the Rainbow Ends, Tove (Pernilla August) is now a successful businesswoman, while Ralf, of The Hands fame, remains a drunken scumbag. ~ Jonathan Crow, Rovi

Richard Hobert wrote and directed this psychological thriller, the fifth installment of Hobert's feature film series based on the seven deadly sins. Continuing the experiences of nurse Ingrid (Lena Endre), a character introduced in the earlier political thriller Run for Your Life, a year has passed. Ingrid now meets wealthy businessman Fredrik (Samuel Froler) and moves in with him. They announce their engagement at a party, but Fredrik has vanished by the next morning. The police inform Ingrid that he killed himself by leaping from a Malmo-Copenhagen ferry. However, Ingrid's friend Mikhael (Goran Stangertz) correctly deduces that Fredrik staged a fake suicide. But why? Obsessed with Ingrid, Fredrik wants to learn that she really loves him, so he installs elaborate spy equipment in his own house in order to track her every move. For final proof, the crazed Fredrik hires someone to test her faithfulness by seducing her. ~ Bhob Stewart, Rovi

Although dealing with death and loss are the central themes in this Swedish film, it's tone is light and upbeat. The lead actor, Sven Lindberg, won a Swedish Oscar for this film. When irascible Ragnar Persson bid good-bye to his wife Ellen as she departed for an Italian holiday, he did not expect that it would be for the last time. But she died on the trip, and all he has left of her are her ashes which he pours into a bright yellow vase. Despite his loss, Ragnar decides to go on their annual trip to their summer cottage. He asks his son Mikael to come too. Mikael has changed since Ragnar last saw him. Now he has become Mick Pierson, an aging rock-star who travels around in a garish bus with a young groupie, Catty. Together the threesome travel to the cabin encountering many mishaps and adventures along the way. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Based on the novel by Per Olaf Sundman, Ingenjör Andrées Luftfärd (Flight of the Eagle) tells the real-life story of a Swedish engineer's attempted expedition to the North Pole in a hot air balloon. Jan Troell directs this over two-hour adventure drama set in 1897. Max Von Sydow stars as Salomon August Andrée, the engineer who leads the tragic journey in a balloon called The Ornen (The Eagle). He is accompanied by explorers Nils Strindberg (Goran Stangertz) and Knut Fraenkel (Sverre Anker Ousdal). Ingenjör Andrées Luftfärd was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film in the 1983 Academy Awards. Using his experiences making this film, Troell went on to make the hour-long documentary En Frusen Drom (Their Frozen Dream) in 1998 with archival information from the remains of the expedition found in 1930 on an island near the North Pole. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, Rovi

Conventions of civility among family members are severely strained by the very real breakup of the bonds between them. During a few days at a vacation home, Katha (Birgitta Valberg), a woman in late middle age, tries to cope with an influx of discontented, disconnected relatives. Her divorced daughter brings all sorts of people to the house, including a woman-friend accompanied by her psychotic son; the grandfather of the house is convinced he is dying and is satisfied by nothing; and some friends drop off their angry teenage son to stay with her, while they go on a long trip abroad. Her friend Emma (Sif Ruud) doesn't help much with keeping a lid on things, as she is a social worker who is fascinated by the awfulness of these situations. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

Liv Ullmann plays Dr. Jenny Isakson, a psychiatrist who is taking a vacation while her husband Dr. Erik Isakson (Sven Lindberg) is elsewhere. Haunted by visions of an old woman, Jenny suffers from profound, inexplicable depression. Desperately in search of a escape from her doldrums, she has an affair with married doctor Tomas Jacobi (Erland Josephson). This only serves to spark an attack of hysteria for Jenny. Again visited by hallucinations of the old woman, she attempts suicide. While hovering between life and death, she imagines she sees all the people who've been influential in her life, and rails against them for causing her neuroses. Only while recovering does she learn who the spectral old woman is and why she is undergoing so harrowing an emotional experience. Like his later Scenes From a Marriage, Bergman's Face to Face (Ansikte mot ansikte) originated as a multipart TV series, which was then pared down into a two-hour-plus feature film. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi