Movies
It's nice to see some non-Bergman Swedish classics from time to time, especially when they're dealing with more contemporary people and problems, rather than age-old philosophical conundrums. In that regard The Pram delivers, though it's not half as frivolous and energetic as I'd hoped. The story revolves around Britt, a young girl who loves her newfound independence and doesn't mind having a couple of flings at the same time. Things change when she finds out she's pregnant. Suddenly she is forced to choose what to do with the rest of her life, a commitment she's not quite ready to take. Some snappy editing and a jazzy soundtrack give the film a more modern flair, but the stark camera work combined with black and white cinematography and the stern performances make it more rigid than needed. There are some fun stylistic touches here and there, but the focus of the film lies on the characters and I simply didn't care much for them.Read all
80s Swedish procedural. I know there's been a serious boom of these during the past decade (though mostly in the miniseries format), I'm not really sure if The Man from Mallorca counts as a predecessor. I'm not a big fan to begin with, but his was remarkable dry and droopy, even for a Swedish film. The plot revolves around a post office robbery. Two detectives are put on the case when two witnesses of the robbery are found dead the next day. Their leads take them to a member of the secret police, but once they're on his tail, previous accounts and witnesses start to fall through, making it very hard to build a case. It's really a very basic setup, executed with almost no flair. The comedy is bland and doesn't work well, the investigation is a real bore, the cinematography is dreadful, and the soundtrack was probably just an afterthought. This feels very generic in every possible way, best to avoid unless you really love Scandinavian police thrillers.Read all