Björn Sundquist Movies

Norwegian director Nils Gaup takes the helm for this sweeping Nordic epic tracing the struggle of the indigenous Sami people against the Swedish exploiters who reap the profits of their misery and desperation. Swedish entrepreneur Ruth (Mikael Persbrandt) is the proprietor of a Kautokeino trading post that also doubles as a popular pub. It's one of the few places that the semi-nomadic Sami can go to purchase essential living supplies and knock back a few drinks. The situation gets complicated when alcoholism begins to run rampant among the Sami men, the reindeer herds are neglected, and the women prove incapable of taking on the responsibility due to their depleted numbers. Enraged by her people's indifference and disturbed by her husband Mathis (Aslat Mahtte Gaup)' constant state of drunkenness, obstinate Sami Elen (Anni-Kristiina Juuso) determines to invoke a positive change by encouraging her husband and neighbors to purchase their supplies from the neighboring town of Karesuando. Once there, the group is taken by the fire and brimstone sermons of charismatic preacher Laestadius (Michael Nyqvist), who condemns the sins of alcohol and vice. Their eyes suddenly opened, Mathis vows to put down the bottle and Elen begins preaching Laestadius' word around Kautokeino. As a result, Ruth's business suffers and a new pastor arrives in town to quell the dissent. This development doesn't sit too well with the outspoken Elen, who gathers the rest of the Sami and leads the march to Ruth's to settle the matter once and for all. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Following up on his popular debut Junk Mail, Pal Sletaune spins this deadpan comedy about bullies and victims, fast food, and death metal. Jan Robert Skjaerstad is a nebbish blithely optimistic would-be lunch counter restaurateur fending off his sleazy landlord and his bullying passive-aggressive horror of a father. When he admits to his increasingly exasperated girlfriend that he used her life savings to fund improvements for his failing diner, she dumps him, leaving him to fend for himself against his venal father. Meanwhile, Bent (Bjorn Sundquist) is the harried drummer of Norway's hottest rock act -- the Ivar Mo Band. Bent's sole reason for existing is because of his tenuous relationship with Ivar Mo -- looking just like a mullet-headed burned-out rocker from a Behind the Music rerun (something that the loathsome star takes pleasure in reminding him of). After being humiliated after his wife decides to spend the night with Ivar rather than with him, Bent exacts revenge when his hired goons kidnap Ivar and deposit him in a remote woodland cabin. Unfortunately, the thugs then get into an ugly car accident and wind up in the hospital. When Jan discovers the bound and blindfolded rock star following an ill-fated suicide attempt, he decides to take his life into his hands -- he stashes Ivar in his car and demands a ransom. This film was screened at the 2001 Toronto Film Festival. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide

Based on a short story by noted Norwegian writer Oystein Lonn, Thranes Metode/Thrane's Method concerns the slowly developing attraction between two people living in the same apartment building. Thrane (Bjorn Sundquist) has money but no job, and has spent much of his life drifting from one place to another. He's infatuated with his upstairs neighbor, a jazz fan named Molly (Petronella Barker), despite the fact that she's married. However, her husband is frequently gone, and, with time, Molly finds herself drawn to Thrane, as well. Thranes Metode/Thrane's Method boasts a soundtrack of classic Charles Mingus sides (thanks to Molly's admirable taste in music) and received its American premier at the 1999 New Directors/New Films showcase in New York; it was also screened at the 1999 Berlin Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Carl Jorgen Kionig directed this Norwegian police thriller, winner of the Norwegian Amanda award for the year's best film. Axel Hellstenius' screenplay is adapted from a novel by Norway's justice minister Anne Holt. Lesbian policewoman Hanne Wilhelmsen (Kjersti Elvik), who has a live-in lover, tools about Oslo on her Harley-Davidson. After a number of women vanish, police find blood but no bodies, and Wilhelmsen begins a search for the suspected serial killer. Holt's crime novels are a popular, successful series, providing the source for a TV miniseries, Blind Goddess, also directed by Kionig with the same principal cast seen in this feature. Shown at the 1998 Haugesund Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide

Set in Norway during the 1950s, this dark comedy chronicles the coming-of-age of a rebellious daughter of a rural priest who was born and raised in a repressive tiny village. The problem is that moody Maria is terribly aware of her burgeoning sexuality. At times not succumbing to the insistent thrumming of her adolescent hormones makes life unbearable. Her only balm comes from lonely walks and her secret readings of the racy parts of the Song of Solomon in the Old Testament. The other kids sense the change in her and she's the butt of many unkind jokes and comments. One day while strolling alone through the forest, Maria encounters the church caretaker Mrs. Tunheim. Surprisingly, it is she who encourages Maria to test her sexual wings and savor life as it was meant to be enjoyed. But that for the reclusive Maria is easier said than done. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

This Scandinavian tragedy is based on a novel by Knut Hamsun and centers on the reminiscences of Lt. Thomas Glahn, a big-game hunter, as he reflects upon the woman who continues to haunt him even though he has "quite forgotten" her. The story jumps back four years. It is summer in an isolated Norwegian fishing village. There the hunter lives in a leased hut in the middle of a forest. His only companion is Aesop, his beloved hunting dog. While there, he encounters Edvarda, a merchant's daughter; for both it is love at first sight. They begin innocently trysting at night in the forest, but their physical expressions of love are limited to the occasional kiss. At the beginning of their relationship, Glahn gives Edvarda two green feathers. Glahn reveres this young woman, and though she would like him to make love to her, he cannot. The woman gets frustrated and the relationship begins to sour. Glahn then begins a sexual relationship with a married woman and Edvarda marries another. Later a tragedy occurs and Glahn does something terribly cruel to Edvarda before he leaves. She returns the feathers. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Ove Rolandsen (Bjørn Floberg) is preoccupied with getting ahead in the world, and having a bit of fun while he does that. It's 1903, and he works as a telegraph operator in a town on the northern coast of Norway. He'd also like to marry Elise (Marie Richardson), the daughter of a local factory owner. She's very nice looking, and she's also interested in him, but there are two obstacles to their getting married. In the first place, she is the fiancee of a ship-owner whose connections are useful to her father's business. In the second place, he's not very well off. He applies himself to his second vocation, inventing, in the hopes of discovering something which will rectify his poverty, and in the meantime, doesn't mind going to bed with the town pastor's pretty wife. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

Based on the evidence of this and similar Scandinavian films, one would have imagined that the majority of their filmmakers would enter the ancient debate on the inherent goodness or lack of it in mankind on the side of those who find humanity inherently lacking. In the story, Robert is an elderly man who has spent the majority of his adult life in America and has moved to a village in his native Norway for the end of his life. There, he meets a much younger woman who provides him with delightful company and companionship. She is married to a local farmer but is a somewhat neglected woman. Despite the essential innocence of their relationship, all their neighbors and acquaintances (beginning with her husband's field hands) think they are having a sexual affair and, disapproving, begin harassing them. This tragic drama is based on a very popular 1980s novel by Karin Elstad). ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

Based on the novel Haakon Haakonsen, Shipwrecked is a family film about a cabin boy (Stian Smestad) whose ship is hit by a hurricane just before it is about to be ambushed by pirates. The boy and his stowaway friend wash up on a South Seas island which happens to be where the pirates' treasure is buried. Soon, the pirates--led by Lieutenant Merrick (Gabriel Byrne)--arrive at the island with hopes of reclaiming their treasure, and the boy decides to construct a series of elaborate booby traps to prevent them from reaching the booty. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Movie Guide

In this action drama, after putting in a full shift, two deep sea divers return to the deep to perform a quick repair to a piece of equipment and wind up trapped 100 yards below the surface for hours, and before long they are cut off from the lines which connect them to the surface. Frantic efforts are made by those on the surface to find some way to rescue them before their air completely runs out. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide