Etienne Glaser Movies

Modern-day Sweden has its share of racist punk skinheads, as this movie shows. In the story, one such punk (Simon Norrthon) has just gathered with his friends to beat up a black boy and he has hoped on board a train. There, an elderly man, quite obviously Jewish (Etienne Glaser), insists on striking up a conversation with him, despite his clear hostility. The old man wants to know what motivates him, and invites him to come to his home sometime in the future so they can continue talking. Curiously, the boy accepts his invitation, and as he talks, we see images of his current activities with his gang. They don't always win in their battles with minorities, and are sometimes beaten up. Eventually, the boy recognizes the older man as the kind of father and mentor he never had and had always wanted, and their arguments turn into real discussions, as he puts his demons to rest. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

The story of director Suzanne Osten's mother Gerd (Malin Ek) is told in this film set against the backdrop of a neutral Sweden in World War II, and the comings and goings of creative talents as they develop their own visions and capacities. Osten's mother had always wanted to produce a film, and although the inspiration was there after a 1939 meeting with Jean-Louis Barrault in Paris, even advice from notables such as Berthold Brecht (though insensitively given) and love affairs that offered some spiritual encouragement, could not stem the gradual and inexorable erosion of her mental stability. By 1944, Gerd was ill enough to be diagnosed as insane. As Gerd destabilizes, her mental afflictions are called forth in avant-garde, surreal visions that move in and out of the reality that carries the woman forward each day. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

Originally titled Broderna Mozart, the Swedish The Mozart Brothers stars Etienne Glaser as a highly unorthodox opera director. His plans to stage Don Giovanni in bizarre, inappropriate costumes, and to have the orchestra members take singing roles, enrages the conservatory opera company that has engaged him. Glaser is motivated by the "voice of God"--God being in this instance Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, whose ghost commiserates with the innovational director from time to time. The Mozart Brothers was itself directed by Suzanne Osten, daughter of a leading Swedish film critic. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi