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As director Hannes Holm puts it, "'A Man Called Ove' is a story about life, and it is recognizable everywhere where life is."
Rolf LassgÜrd, who plays the title role, is so grouchy, pernickety and simple insufferable with a complete straight face that one could believe at first that the movie is just going to be a sad sentimental tale. But it is in fact a very skillful mix of humor with more dramatic turns. Ove is a recent widower who loses his job in the first minutes of the movie. Very quickly, his serial attempts to end his life that constantly get interrupted gets funny. Most of the interruptions come from a new family moving across the alley from him, a Swedish/Persian couple with two vivacious little girls and a mother who's quite the opposite to Ove.
But the movie is much more than the tribulations of a set of neighbors that live on different planes. Another very important figure of the movie, Ove's late wife, emerges by small brush strokes as flashbacks take the spectator into Ove's past life. A beautiful character in many ways, she brings a softness and strength that balances Ove's negative desperation.
American viewers will chuckle at the male rivalry and bickering over cars in a small neighborhood. Can a friendship be irreparably broken over the make of a car? Are some Swedes that chauvinistic about their automobile industry? The "car-syndrome" makes for a funny thread all along the movie.
Some societal and cultural phenomena are also touched upon here, adding an interesting aspect to the movie. Since his early years Ove has been the victim of what he calls "men in white shirts," the people who represent the power and the rules that sometimes infringe deeply on individual rights. Ove was never a passive victim; he fought hard, but always alone. And it is when he understands the power of community and is able to reach out, that he will get his best victory.
Ultimately the powerful stature of LassgÜrd-Ove dominates the movie. The actor is a stage artist who played Brecht and Shakespeare. His finely nuanced portrayal of Ove makes the movie all the more believable and endearing.
The movie is based on the New-York best selling book "A Man Called Ove" by Fredrik Backmanis. It is the Swedish selection for this year's foreign language Oscar race, and it is one of the best-rated films on the internet site Rotten Tomatoes. It was released last year in Sweden where it was a blockbuster. The showing at the Orinda Theater for a week starting Nov. 4 is a Contra Costa premiere. Go to Lamorindatheatres.com for show time and tickets.
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Lamorinda Weekly, Moraga CA