Waldemar Bergendahl Movies

A young woman of Middle Eastern heritage wants to become a cop in blue-eyed, blonde-haired Sweden while dealing with some rough spots in her love life in this blend of family drama and romantic comedy. Sinan (Korhan Abay) was born and raised in Turkey and enjoyed a successful career as a surgeon. However, when circumstances dictated that Sinan and his wife Ayse (Zinat Pirzadeh) had to leave Turkey, they moved to Sweden, where he was unable to practice medicine and now makes a living driving commuter trains. Bitter Sinan lives with Ayse and their two grown-up daughters, Yasmin (Nina Zanjani) and Dilek (Stella Enciso), who are thoroughly acclimated to Swedish culture. Yasmin dreams of becoming a police officer, and has enrolled at the police academy, where she meets fellow student Elin (Rakel Warmlander). Yasmin and Elin become fast friends, but Yasmin also finds herself becoming infatuated with Henke (Mattias Redbo), Elin's boyfriend. Henke is also attracted to Yasmin, and as they struggle with their mutual desire Henke learns that Elin has had a fling with one of the men in her class. Should all four parties feel free to follow their desires? Should Yasmin leave Erin and Henke to patch up their differences? And what about the racist would-be cop at the Academy who has it in for Yasmin and resembles a fugitive on the run from the law? Mind The Gap was the first directorial credit for veteran Swedish actress Helena Bergstrom. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Fredrik Lindstrom and Felix Herngren's brisk and breezy Swedish sex comedy skewers male infidelity and sexual thrill-seeking. Frank (played by co-director Herngren) leads a respectable yuppie life working at a noted Stockholm law firm. He has also been married for eight years to his beautiful wife Nenne (Karin Bjurstrom), who runs an upscale boutique. Yet Frank is deeply bored with his life and is supremely randy. He even fantasizes about the marriage counselor that he and Nenne visit weekly. Eventually, Frank shacks up with a young fetching art student named Sofia (Kalla Bie), though the experience wracks Frank with guilt. Meanwhile, Nenne's friend and co-worker Rosie (Cecilia Ljung) suspects that Frank is having an affair, though she does not have the nerve to tell her. Little does Rosie suspect, however, that her friend is sleeping with her lover Georg ($Mikael Persbrandt), an uptight journalist with an ego the size of Finland. Soon wires get crossed, and all hell breaks loose. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide

When Adam and Eva first meet, it is love at first sight in the grandest Hollywood tradition. Normally such a scene would occur at the end of the film, but in this sparkling look at male and female relationships, it is only the beginning. The story jumps ahead four years. By this time, the two are living together and totally bored. While Eva wants to marry and start a family, Adam dreams of having an affair. He gets his opportunity when a pretty and very young woman sashays into the picture. Adam manages to keep his liaison a secret for a while. When Eva finds out, a terrible scene erupts and she leaves him. Left to himself, Adam is forced to come to grips with what Eva really meant to him. Unfortunately, by the time he figures it out, it is almost too late, for she has found a new love, one who is willing to marry her. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Over the course of a single year, the disparate lives of several modern Swedes gradually intersect. Based on a short story series by Reider Jonsson (best known for "My Life as a Dog) and directed by Daniel Bergman (son of Sweden's greatest director Ingmar Bergman), the focus is on the more mundane aspects of the character's lives, and the tone is low-key and laid back. The various characters are introduced aboard a train. One passenger is returning home to make peace with his father, a fisherman. Elsewhere, a husband and wife argue in front of their daughter about a pending divorce while a pair of young Slavic tourists bill and coo. In another spot, a young woman flirts with a handsome older man. All that subsequently occurs between the characters is reflected in the deep blue eyes of a beautiful woman. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Unemployment is the subject of this black Swedish comedy and though it is generally funny, it will be most enjoyable with those familiar with Sweden's culture and economic climate. It is the story of Torsten, a bank clerk who is fired by his boss. Devastated and ashamed, poor Torsten becomes so desperate to get his job back that he decides to engineer a bogus bank robbery so he can play hero. Unfortunately, the mock-heist goes awry and he suddenly finds himself responsible for finding 5 million in missing kronor. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Roland (Jesper Salen) is a boy growing up in Stockholm. It is the middle of the 1920s, and he suffers from the twin handicaps of being Jewish and the son of a socialist. However, despite the taunts and bullying he endures, he gets in a few licks of his own, and manages to have some fun (and get some revenge on his tormentors). One particularly successful ploy of his is to take some of the illegal condoms his mother is selling in her tobacco store and use them to power some slingshots he has made, sellling them to neighborhood boys. This affectionate, richly detailed portrait of a man's early adolescence in pre-war Stockholm is based on an autobiographical novel by Roland Schutt) ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

In this fast-paced MTV-style crime drama, four young men who have made a living at petty crime get more deeply involved in the drug underworld, and experience violence at an entirely new level. This action-oriented film was made by two young men who themselves participated in that life, with a grant from Svensk Filmindustri. While it is probably intended as a cautionary tale, reviewers thought it likelier to encourage violence rather than deter it. They also found the (apparently) deliberate underacting throughout somewhat disturbing. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

In this children's feature based on one of the well-loved stories of octogenarian Swedish writer Astrid Lindgren, Lotta is a willful five-year-old girl who is in trouble with her parents because she won't stop saying a bad word, and they keep scolding her for it. Perhaps she will run away. But then, how would she get to see her loving grandparents, or eat waffles in the lovely garden of her family home? And what would become of her efforts to learn how to ride a bicycle without using training wheels? Adults with a low boredom threshold should be forewarned: this feature is aimed strictly at younger audiences. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

This popular Swedish musical comedy is a follow-up movie to the blockbuster hit comedy (in Sweden) Macken, and it features the talents of the comedy troupe Galenskaparna/After Shave, which performs in much the same zany fashion as the British Monty Python ensemble. It is based on a wildly popular staged musical comedy featuring the same performers. The story concerns a railway stationmaster in a small Swedish town, who, when he is informed by the powers-that-be that they will be closing the station down, retaliates by kidnapping the bureaucrats and obstinately claiming that the absence of trains at his station is simply due to their being tardy. It's difficult to see how anyone could genuinely fall for this ruse, but anyone familiar with the Python's famous "Dead Parrot" skit or their equally hilarious "Cheese Shop" skit can appreciate how humorous this set-up might be. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

In this melodrama, Rita (Lena Carlsson) is a girl about to turn 17, and she is exploring the world around her and, more particularly, her feminine powers over men. It is summer, and she and her wealthy parents are spending the holidays at their seaside resort home. Rita discovers that she has some romantic feelings for her father, but soon tires of that game, and takes up with a van driver after fending off the attentions of a more "suitable" partner. Meanwhile, she and her girlfriend visit a carnival, play tennis, etc. Aside from her parents, her other older relatives are all semi-tragic types, much given to drink, suicide attempts, and shooting birds. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

The dark recesses of a troubled psyche come to the light of day in this psychological thriller. In the story, Richard (Boman Oscarsson) is a young international art smuggler, who moves into the apartment of his cartoonist half-brother, who has disappeared. Once established there, increasingly strange mental states arise in his mind, and he sees (or seems to see) strange things going on around him. In addition, he has difficult encounters with his ailing mother and with a former girlfriend. As the experiences grow more numerous and intense, he decides that it is vital for his sanity that he discover what has become of his missing brother. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide