Kim Novak Never Swam in Genesaret's Lake

My feelings toward Swedish films can not be called warm. Most of the movies produced in Sweden are crap. 90% of the available movies are made by the same people, featuring the same actors, boring and completely without merit when it comes to originality and style. That's why it makes me so happy when, once in a long while, i get to see a movie like this one. A movie that gives me hope for the future.

"Kim Nowak badade aldrig i Genesarets sjö" is based on the novel from Håkan Nesser with the same title. A quite odd book from Mr. Nesser who usually writes more or less standard crime-drama. Here though it's more a recollection from his youth, a sunny tale from an idyllic 1960's summer that turns dark before the story ends.

There is much to separate this from the mainstream Swedish movie production. First of all the production values are great. The photography is excellent, the music is equally good, the locations are wonderful and the visual style is consistent and thought-through. The directing is also done with a steady hand from director Martin Asphaug. What i appreciated most though was the acting, from both child-actors and adults. Most of the adult actors are recognizable from TV-series and movies but they are not what you would call "Swedish A-list" perhaps. Which is hugely liberating to say the least since i've seen that A-list in what feels like a hundred disappointing movies already. The most famous actor here is probably Jonas Karlsson who, as usual, is excellent.

When the movie ends i sit back in the theater and think "why can't more Swedish movies be like this one?". It was probably not that expensive and the actors were not the most famous (although they were good), still it worked better than most Swedish films together. There is a feeling here for what works, both visually and story-wise. It seems to me that the scriptwriters and the director both knew what they wanted out of this movie and managed to relay that to the actors. It's not about huge budgets, which is what Swedish film-makers often complain about not having. Rather it's about solid film-making and an eye for what works and what people appreciate.

This is not spectacular film-making, but it's solid and entertaining. And in most cases that's enough. I rate it 7/10.