His triumph at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival with ‘Triangle of Sadness’ is putting Ruben Östlund’s name on everyone’s lips. A little out of controversy, as the jury’s decision to award the Palme d’Or to his scathing satire on the wealthy classes did not reach a consensus.
However, his new triumph after achieving the same with ‘The Square’ positions him as the Swedish director of the moment. Although he is not the only great exponent of Scandinavian cinema who also gave us Ingmar Bergman. In streaming we can find three remarkable films from that country that show the good state of form that the talent of the North has.
‘Let me in’ (‘Låt den rätte komma in’, 2008)
Director: Thomas Alfredson. Distribution: Kåre Hedebrant, Lina Leandersson, Per Ragnar, Henrik Dahl, Karin Bergquist.
Probably the most important film that has come from that country in the entire 21st century. The movie that made us pay attention to the name of Thomas Alfredson and to discover new fronts from which to approach the fantastic and, specifically, the vampire subgenre.
In a modest Swedish town we meet a shy boy who is harassed by several bullies from his school. He befriends a mysterious girl, whose appearance coincides in time with several mysterious deaths that happen in the area. However, the friendship they establish is strong, and Alfredson recounts it with a supreme excellence and delicacy of hers, making her one of the most dazzling supernatural movies of recent decades.
See on Amazon Prime Video and on Filmin | Criticism in Espinof
‘Sami Blood’ (‘Sameblod’, 2016)
Director: Amanda Kernel. Distribution: Lene Cecilia Sparrok, Mia Erika Sparrok, Maj Doris Rimpi, Julius Fleischanderl.
An engaging tale of female coming of age, which moves to rural Sweden in the 1930s to tell the story of a Lappish girl raised in a boarding school for boys from the nomadic Sami people. In this boarding school, they will try to integrate her and her sister into Swedish customs and culture, at times of a forced and tense way that reveals the racial tensions in the region.
amanda kernell exposes all this national problem with a lot of empathy towards its central character, approaching his position to make clear the evolution towards that present that we see as a prologue. Sometimes didactic and a bit conventional, but also effective in detailing the nuances of this conflict so that they are clear even foreigners like us.
See in Filmin
‘The Unthinkable’ (‘Den blomstertid nu kommer’, 2018)
Director: Victor Daniel. Distribution: Christoffer Nordenrot, Lisa Henni, Jesper Barkselius, Pia Halvorsen.
The least dramatic proposal of the selection, although its combo of action and disaster movies is not the only thing that makes this production unique. Founded through the most massive crowdfunding ever in Sweden, ‘The Unthinkable’ achieves the feat of existing on its own terms.
Even with the obvious budget constraints, the Victor Daniel it’s a overwhelming rush of adrenaline and brutal action, which achieves truly remarkable sequences that outperform productions with almost 100 times the budget. He manages to give a special sauce to a somewhat skeletal story, showing a amazing visual inventiveness from the moment you decide to step on the accelerator.
See on Amazon Prime Video and on Filmin | Criticism in Espinof
