Refroidis

Unassuming, snow ploughing, 'Citizen of the year', a man of few words, Nils Dickman (Stellan Skarsgård), goes on a vigilante kill crazy rampage, disposing of those mobsters responsible for his son's death, because a man must avenge his son... it's expected of him.

...and that's basically the plot in this quirky, slightly strange, somewhat dark, Nordic humoured movie. After a intriguingly dark and interesting beginning, the plot itself runs a little stale and begins to feel slightly familiar and rehashed. It's a shame, because a weak plot is the movie's only flaw. To me, it felt a little bit of a cop-out from the original premise of the 'ordinary man', that he could conveniently enlist the help of his criminally linked brother, in order to get the movie flowing again.

Nevertheless, there is a lot to take away from the movie, and, even if the plot falls a little flat midway, the characters and even the ambiance certainly do not! There is something so charmingly black in the understated Nordic tone that will keep you enticed - perhaps not loud roaring laughter, but certainly continuous rumbling chuckling throughout. The theme may be familiar, but it is told with a new ice veneer that is typically Norwegian in style, aided by the wonderfully droll backdrop of the mountainous countryside. Whether it be the in-car conversations between mobsters discussing issues such as differences between the welfare systems of cold climate countries as opposed to those of hot climate countries; or the face-off between the kingpin mobster, Greven (Pål Sverre Valheim Hagen) and his passively aggressive, coldly beautiful, ice-queen ex-wife, Marit (Birgitte Hjort Sørensen), these little scenes will most certainly keep you entertained and engaged.

The movie is certainly self-aware and has a little laugh at the quirks of Norwegian culture. This is no more evident than in the king-pin's home with its excessive and immaculate modernist furnishings. Scenes with Greven putting 'five-a-day fruits' ahead of business matters again epitomises the 'new world' of the Norwegian mobster. This modern society is put in stark contrast to the 'old world' of the Serbian rival gang where tradition and loyalty, the notion of an eye-for-an-eye, is paramount. Yet, even despite its odd quirks, the new world can manage to entice the old, with the Papa (Bruno Ganz), in the midst of his manhunt, opening up to new sensations on the cold mountaintop, vicariously experiencing the simple pleasures of the children as they ski down the mountain... and so the movie is perhaps also proud of its culture and origins, giving it a proverbial 'Fargo' feel.

Perhaps it doesn't quite attain the promise of 'high-art' it might suggest in its opening 20 minutes, but soon you learn it doesn't really need to. It's a quirky, superfluous little number that will give you fresh enjoyment on an old theme, and keep you quietly chuckling along, clucking like a hen, until the very end.

"In Order of Disappearance" (2014 release from Norway; 115 min.) brings the story of Nils, a Swedish guy longtime resident of northern Norway. As the movie opens, Nils and his wife are getting ready to accept the "Citizen of the Year" award of the local chamber of commerce. Nils, who runs a snow removal equipment business, accepts the award with humility and dignity. In a parallel story line, we see a couple of young men getting kidnapped and one of them eventually dies. It turns out to be Nils' son, who was in the wrong place at the wrong time, getting mixed up in a local drug gang. Nils knows his son was not an addict and decides to look into the circumstances of the death of his son... At this point we are 15 min. into the movie, but to tell you more would spoil your viewing experience, you'll just have to see for yourself how it all plays out.

Couple of comments: this is the latest movie from Norwegian director Hans Petter Moland in which he collaborates with Swedish actor Stellan Skarsgård, who plays Nils. The movie was billed on Google Movie Times as a "comedy" and in a sense it might be one, but a very dark one, if that. I found the movie to be a so(m)ber crime drama, in which Skarsgård plays "Joe Sixpack" who is out for revenge of his son's death. Sure there are chuckles here and there, but to me the film resonates a lot more on the level of how an average guy turns out to be a systematic and determined revenge-seeker. The setting of the film, somewhere in northern Norway, is gorgeous, and the use of the snow blowers and snow removal equipment is almost balletic.

This movie is two years old now, and for some reason just popped up in the theater. I saw it this past weekend at the E Street Landmark Theater in Washington, DC. The matinée screening where I saw this at was attended very nicely. No idea why it has taken this long to get into US theaters, but better late than never I suppose. In the meantime I read somewhere that this movie is going to be remade by Hollywood, but without Skarsgård. Say it ain't so! If you are in the mood for a foreign language crime drama with undertones of a dark, if not black, comedy, you cannot go wrong with this. "In Order of Disappearance" is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

Well-made action-thriller with Stellan Skarsgård as a decent Swedish snowplowerer in the Norwegian mountains becomes an avenger for his dead son.

Reminds me more of American revenge flicks like 'TAKEN (2008)', 'JOHN WICK (2014)' and 'THE EQUALIZER (2014)' than anything typically Scandinavian... Without ever getting too cheesy or 'poserish' which tend to happen at times when the Scandis attempt at this (for instance 'EXIT (2006)', 'GANGSTER (2007)' or '9 MILLIMETER (1997)' are examples of this when done poorly).

But yeah here they get it right, with a solid and incredibly intense crime boss played by Pål Sverre Hagen and overall pretty stellar acting.

A bit of dark comedy in the mix as well reminiscent of 'FARGO (1996)' and 'THE BIG WHITE (2005)'.

Liam Neeson is in the talks of being the lead in an American remake and that seems like it would be the go to guy with the task, however not sure if it will get any better as it's just fine the way it is.

Finally watched it last night. Instead, I got a film that quickly grew on me as the body count mounted (hence the Englsh title). An earlier reviewer said it was like Fargo, but I would add a touch of an absurd Kill Bill body count. At the end of the film I was laughing out loud. A great dark comedy.

As the critics said some days ago, when Kraftidioten (International titled "In order of disappearance") premiered in the main program of the Berlin Film Festival, this is both hilarious, rough and beautiful. While giving loads of fun and entertainment, you'll soon discover that the film has a complex underlying theme which makes this interesting on a much wider scale.

But still, this is not a film for the faint hearted. That said as a warning, because the body-count is bigger than in any Norwegian film I've seen before. There's no sex, but all violence in this, still testosterone filled, movie with a hero called "Dickman". You can't say it more obvious than that.

Or what about a plot with a Swedish plowman working in the remote Norwegian high mountains dealing with Norwegian and Serbian gangsters in a vigilante film, crossed with beautiful Norwegian landscape and droll humor!?! Well, it's completely up my alley.

Hans Petter Moland always delivers. He has made the great films "A somewhat gentle man", "The last lieutenant", "Zero Kelvin", "Aberdeen" and "Comrade Pedersen" amongst others. All of them recommended! It's "A somewhat gentle man" which is most like this last one.

If you loved "Fargo", "Burn after reading", "The big white" or "In Bruges" this is the film for you. It's almost a mix, though it's a bit more dark and bloody, and has a more serious underlying theme. This is balanced beautifully with giving death announcements in a way I've never seen before after the body count rises.

It's seems like a film that doesn't take itself too seriously, though it still has some hilarious Tarantino-like discussions, mainly from minor roles, which adds a lot to the film. They are discussing the great food in the Norwegian prison system, how Norwegians are so environmental that they pick up dog litter in little bags, and the Scandinavian welfare system is discussed as a need because of the snow and lack of sun. A country where even the gangsters drink tomato juice and drive hybrid electric Fisker Karma cars.

But what makes "In order of disappearance" stand out as much more than a hilarious masculine violent "Fargo" is that it actually is a deeper comment about how men act. Our anti superhero is called Dickman, because he really acts like one, though still being a nice and likable man. Not able to express feelings to his wife, which leaves him, avenging that his bloodline via his lost son is all that matters. Of course we know that our society is patriarchal. In this film it's over-exaggerated, but giving a good comment on today's society. The men are the one's both criminal and the users of violence. Dickman didn't even know his son, and though being a "nice" kidnapper, he doesn't even know how to read a bed time story. The film has almost no affection, except between men, and film maker Moland knows to punish those kinds of forbidden feelings. He also, in more way than one, express that men are stupid, doing stupid things, which almost always has a severe consequence.

This is the kind of film I wish would never end. I enjoyed it immensely right from the start, and it even grew from there. The film doesn't give all answers, but our vigilante hero at least gets to do some "good" deeds along the way. And if you hate drug dealers, then this is the film for you.

Stellan Skarsgård is perfect as the understated Swedish immigrant, just voted the inhabitant of the year in his little mountain town, which is a place we really don't get to know where is. The signs says "Welcome to Tyos..." and then the snow constantly covers the rest of the name. Even Oslo is made as a Alaskan-like ice city, where mountains are put where they usually not are. Our hero takes the matters in his own hands when he understands that the police are considering not to investigate the case of his son found dead by drug overdose in the city. He knows of course this is murder. And he is going to revenge his son's death.

The film has so many great supporting roles, which all make up this story, and I'm sure this film will do great world wide. Great scripting again from Danish Kim Fupz Aakeson and great filming by Philip Øgaard. The scenery is awesome, an adds to the film's sentimentality as well as beauty, which makes the whole environment even more exotic.

It's the fourth time Stellan Skarsgård is featured in a Moland-film, and it's not difficult to understand why. But Bruno Ganz is perfect as the Serbian gangster Papa and I also loved Pål Sverre Hagen as the neurotic vegan gangster "Greven" (The Count). But so many from the supporting cast should be praised as well.

Be sure to pick up this treat of a dark gangster comedy! As bloody as they come, but still with a great heart! You won't regret!