Lars Bjalkeskog Movies
- 2000
In this black comedy, Gunnar (Dan Ekbord) and Rolf (Peter Haber) are a pair of well-known authors who decide to collaborate on a play. Shutting themselves in Rolf's house, they block out plans to pen a thriller inspired by conspiracy theories surrounding the recent death of the Swedish prime minister. A reporter who learns that the two wordsmiths are working together on a project hides outside the house with surveillance equipment, hoping to get the inside scoop. When Gunnar and Rolf hear a disturbance outside, they're convinced a wild animal is waiting, and they grab their hunting rifles; however, they accidentally kill the reporter and now have to figure out what to do with the corpse and what to tell the authorities. Hur Som Helst Ar Han Javligt Dod was shot on videotape and later transferred to 35 mm film for theatrical distribution. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Peter Haber, Dan Ekborg, (more)
- 1999
A frustrated thespian tries to bring the joys of the theater to a group of convicts in this Swedish comedy. Reine (played by Bjorn Kjellman) is an out-of-work actor in dire need of a job; as a last resort, he takes a position at a high-security prison. He discovers the prison has a room that is set up like a theater, prompting a brainstorm -- he can organize a prison theatrical troupe. A handful of inmates volunteers, though their interest has less to do with a love of drama and more to do with the possible opportunity to escape. But the drama club becomes just popular enough that Ekman (Thomas Hanzon), a long-term inmate who is the unofficial leader of the criminal population behind bars, feels his "authority" is being challenged, and he's not shy about using violence to restore the proper balance of power. Based in part on a true story, Vagen Ut (aka Breaking Out) was the debut feature from TV director Daniel Lind Lagerlof; it was shown to critical and public acclaim at the 1999 Gothenburg Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Björn Kjellman, Peter Haber, (more)
- 1992
Scripted (but not directed) by Ingmar Bergman, Best Intentions is a multilayered backwards glance at the courtship of Bergman's own parents. Henrik Bergman (Samuel Froler) is a struggling theology student in the year 1909. His intended, Anna Aakerbloom (Pernilla August, who married director Bille August while the film was in progress) is from a well-to-do family. Despite the expected class differences and personality clashes, love-or at least mutual understanding-prevails. But after a harsh, spare few years as the wife of a clergyman, Anna yearns for the more bountiful pleasures of her family home. Bergman writes himself into the proceedings as a mewling infant. The current three-hour theatrical version of Best Intentions (original title: Den Goda Viljan) was simultaneously prepared as a six-hour TV miniseries, which ran in Europe, Scandanavia, and Japan. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Samuel Fröler, Pernilla August, (more)
