A Man Called Ove

Things have gone on for too long and it must end, those who break your rules you just cannot defend, so it's time to say goodbye, join your lady in the sky, but even that's starting to drive you round the bend. But then a woman and her family appear, Parvanah scythes and cuts, through all of your past tears, helps to bring some perspective, and the courage to forgive, so when the time arrives there's nothing to be feared.

A truly wonderful tale of a cantankerous old man who manages to fondly reflect on the lost love of his life while being inspired by a new neighbour who breaks his outer shell and reveals a generous and kind, larger than life heart. Great performances all round but especially from Rolf Lassgård, who is and will be forever unequalled, unmatched and peerless in the role.

This is a beautiful movie that I warmly can recommend. Rolf Lassgård is acting great as always. This is a movie that will make you laugh and cry. The film is based on a book. I have not read the book, but my girlfriend had. She said that the movie was very good, and the story was well told. The movie have some actors that I have never seen before, but they all act good, and is lifting Rolf's role very well. I can warmly recommend this movie. I guess the movie will fit for all adult people (from 15 to 100 years old), and the movie make you have some thoughts, when the credits roll over the film at the end. I will not write any spoils here. See it for yourselves.

Some of the movies that I find the most interesting are ones that focus on interactions between people from different cultures. "En man som heter Ove" ("A Man Called Ove" in English) is one such movie. The protagonist is a misanthropic, aging man in a neighborhood in Sweden. He spends much of his time telling people if they're breaking the law. But when an Iranian woman and her family move in, this becomes a new opportunity for him.

In addition to showing Ove's relationship with this new family, the movie uses flashbacks to establish what kind of a person Ove is. And believe me, there are some shocking things that happened in this man's life. I had never heard of the director or cast members before watching the movie, but I'm impressed with their work (including the cat). The movie has some clever scenes, but also makes sure to emphasize the characters' relationships with each other. I hope that Hannes Holm continues to make this sort of movie, and I hope to see Rolf Lassgård in more movies. Bra gjort!

"A Man Called Ove" (2015 release from Sweden) brings the story of 59 yr. old Ove. As the movie opens, we see him bickering in a store over the price of flowers on his way to visit his wife Sonja's grave. Not long thereafter, he is given the boot at work, after a 43 yr. career in train maintenance. This leaves him with plenty of time to do the rounds of the small (and traffic-free) community where he lives. Then a young family moves in across the street, not knowing the many strict rules of the community. All along, Ove can't wait to join his beloved Sonja in the hereafter. At this point we're 15 min. into the movie but to tell you more of the plot would spoil your viewing experience, you'll just have to see for yourself how it all plays out.

Couple of comments: first of all, if you have seen the trailer, you are probably expecting something along the line of that other recent Swedish movie, the funny and irreverent "The 100 Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared", as certainly the trailer gives that expectation. Let me stop you right there, as "A Man Called Ove" turns out to be almost nothing like it, and in fact I will say that the movie's trailer is outright misleading. "A Man Called Ove" certainly has some funny moments here and there, but in fact deals a lot more with how someone deals with facing life without a dearly beloved significant other. The movie cleverly looks back at the budding romance between Ove and Sonja in a number of flashbacks, and it's not until the very last 15 min. that we get the full picture. (During one of those flashbacks, we hear Demis Roussos' "Forever and Ever" in the background, which I literally hadn't heard in decades. That guy was HUGE in Europe in the 70s.) The movie also looks at the importance of neighbors and the immediate community (and even integration of migrants, as the wide of the young family fled Iran and is now completely fluent in Swedish). The movie that came to mind as I was watching this is Clint Eastwood's "Gran Torino" of a few years ago. Indeed, certain parallels are uncanny (grumpy older guy, love for cars (in "Ove" it's a Saab), dealing with personal loss, adjusting to new neighbors, etc. Rolf Lassgard is outstanding in the title role, and kudos also to Barar Pars as the young wife from Iran.

"A Man Called Ove" opened with little pre-release fanfare at my local art-house theater here in Cincinnati. The Friday early evening screening where I saw this at was attended very nicely, somewhat to my surprise. So much the better! If you are up for a bittersweet Swedish movie about an older gentleman's adjustment to a new world, I think you will like this quite a bit. "A Man Called Ove" is worth checking out!

This Swedish original is a great movie, so much better than the American remake "A Man Called Otto".

I usually don't like to read subtitles through an entire movie because it distracts you from watching the actors and the scenes, but in this case it was very well worth it.

This original had much better acting, better and more in depth character background, and the car manufacturer battle was hilarious. The remake did a very poor job in all of these areas, especially in the acting sense. The character were very relatable and realistic.

If you can only watch one version, watch this one, if you plan on watching both, watch this one last, as you will appreciate both of them much better.