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Tag archives for Björn Stein

It’s the final countdown

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"The end is in sight, captain" Photo: Wikimedia Commons

We are coming to the end my friends. This Thursday I’ll be writing my last post of the year. Regarding the future I can only say that the future is written in the stars. Sadly I can’t read constellations. I can’t even read Spanish.

When it comes to the future one thing is sure. Swedes will be there. I’m of course talking about film and this year has been a powerhouse of Swedish performance and breakouts. Over the last few months I’ve highlighted a lot of them but I have forgotten one film.

A few years back friends Måns Mårlind and Björn Stein made a film by the name of Storm. The film starred Eric Ericson, Eva Röse and Jonas Karlsson and was a interesting film that mixed genre and style. It put Måns and Björn on the map.  They later did a mini-series for TV called Snapphanar. Their place on the film map grew and suddenly they were visible to Hollywood.

Shelter is the latest film by the Swedish director duo. The film will be released in the US in February but once again Stockholm Film Festival was kind enough to screen it this year. The film stars Julianne Moore and Jonathan Rhys Meyers.

Måns and Björn show very quickly that they know exactly what they’re doing. The film is tight and well directed with great performances, especially from Jonathan Rhys Meyers. His character goes through changes which make him have multiple dialects and mannerisms and he does it perfectly. The film however kind of falls apart in the third act.

Hollywood must be happy with what these guys are doing because their next film will be Underworld 4. Not to trash talk too much I admit that these vampire films aren’t the best films in town but they are films that bring in a lot of money. We all know cash is king in the film business and who knows what doors it will open for Måns and Björn.

Another great Swedish story I have to throw in here is that one of Sweden’s most famous actors, Mikael Persbrandt, has landed a part in the upcoming film The Hobbit by Peter Jackson.

In my final post I will be making a “Best Of 2010” list so hold tight for that. See you soon for the finale.

Chris Gardner - Film

December 7, 2010

Stockholm Film Festival is full of Swedes. Is that odd?

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The very prestige bronze horse. Only a few get to go home with this little pony. Photo: Daniel Rohlin

The Stockholm Film Festival is now up and running, and is looking better than ever. This year Sweden’s biggest film festival is graced with the presence of no other than Holly Hunter. She’ll be the head of the jury this year.

When she arrived at Norrmalmstorg square in Stockholm the other day the street was lined with people holding torches. This greeting of fire was very much appreciated as you can see in the Youtube clip below. If you are in Stockholm now on Saturday and want to see Holly Hunter you can buy a ticket to her Face2Face here. I highly recommend it to everybody that loves cinema.

This year’s festival is packed with fantastic film. Some of the highlights are Shanghai, by the Swedish filmmaker Mikael Håfström, and Shelter by the Swedish duo Måns Mårlind and Björn Stein. They debuted 2005 in Sweden with Storm. A film that really showed that Swedish cinema is on a new wave of filmmaking. That they then ran to Hollywood is kind of funny but who can blame them? The boys in Hollywood have bigger and more expensive toys.

The festival will also hold the world premiere of the film Four More Years (Fyra år till) by Tova Magnusson-Norling, who did the critically acclaimed film The Girl (Flickan) last year. The much beloved actor Björn Kjellman plays the lead. IMDB had a great description of what the film is about:

Political party leader David Holst, one of Sweden’s most popular politicians, is handsome, funny, popular and predicted as the country’s next prime minister. But what at first appears to be an easy victory turns into a grueling defeat as another party wins the elections and four years of leading the country, When David suddenly falls in love, the problem is not that he’s already married or that he’s fallen in love with another man. The problem is that the man he’s fallen head over heels in love with, Martin, is the only man on earth he can’t love. He is the Secretary of State for the rivaling country that won the elections.

Trailer to Four More Years (no subtitles sadly enough)

Tickets and all the films that will be screening at the festival can be found here.

P.S. Did I mention that Gus Van Sant will be present at this year’s festival? No? Well now I have.

Chris Gardner - Film

November 18, 2010