L'homme de Majorque

Surprising, far from Hollywood clichés and expected, predictable lines, this Scandinavian - Sweden - crime thriller is so exciting, as was COP ON THE ROOF, from the very same director, a brilliant, sophisticated film maker, who did not make only crime films though. Such a shame. You are always surprised here, nothing foreseeable, and maybe that contributes to make it a bit complex to follow for "southern" or "western" audiences. The only thing maybe borrowed from Hollywood is the cop in tandem crew, some kind of buddy movie, but without being LETHAL WEAPON either. Not an action genuine crime flick but with action scenes however. I highly recommend it.

It's rare to see a movie that is almost without a fault. This is one of them, although you might have had to have experienced Sweden in the 1980s to get the full impacct - and not to find some of the sub-plots or plot points improbable. The reality behind the movie, as eloquently elaborated on in "Call Girl" (2012) starring Pernilla August, was actually even uglier, and the author of the book - criminology professor and police expert Leif GW Persson - this movie is based on had a pivotal role himself in the real-life scandal. This paves the way for a great deal of authenticity, and the director Bo Widerberg pours all of his considerable talent into establishing that even further - yes, life really was that bleak, and the score actually *sounds* like the way it all looked and felt. However, Widerberg adds to that a great deal of suspense and action; a very great deal, even, especially for a Swedish movie of the time. The eerie footage of the villain and his car, for instance, is of Hitchcock class. Some of the finest actors available in those days also contribute memorable performances. Nobody can tell a whole story through a simple sigh as Tommy Johnsson did; the apparent disillusionment and overwork burden of Andersson is told only by Håkan Serner's fatigued-but-hopeful facial expression, and the walrus-like, condescending fatberg Dahlgren becomes equally likeable and revolting when played by Ernst Günther - not much needs to be said of the mutual dislike between him and the detective heroes. Speaking of which, Thomas von Brömssen acts out Johansson's heartbreaking backstory with enough subtlety for us to feel it and ache for it without it becoming preachy. The political dimension of the film also becomes apparent only as the plot unfolds, leading up to... well, let's just say it isn't your standard cop flick. In short, Widerberg manages to internalise the suspense into his audience, making it ever more powerful than it could have otherwise become.

An intriguing, engrossing thriller with agile camerawork and interesting characters. And it all takes place in faraway Sweden, which, for some of us, is unfamiliar and fascinating. Fans of foreign films will enjoy this and I think it would appeal as well to those who don't often see foreign films.

I got tricked into watching Mannen från Mallorca (or The Man From Majorca for the English title) by reading the extremely positive reviews for this movie, going from "Close to perfection" to "A mindboggling crime story" or even "Best swedish movie ever!!". Best Swedish movie ever, that's from reviewer johannes-62391, that watched this movie 20 to 25 times, yes I know it's laughable as who on earth would watch a movie that many times? Needless to tell you that this reviewer only has two reviews, and is probably Swedish. You get what I mean... I wished IMDb would do something about these kind of reviews. That said this movie is just okay, was probably better when it came out but it didn't age very well. The acting is okay, the story on the other hand is a bit confusing, a bit boring, lacking action. In short I wouldn't waste your time with this one.

Right at the start there is a really good robbery of a Post Office just being done by one man. Outside two cops are at a car park and having their eyes on a brothel but then there is a call at the Post Office and becomes a thrilling chase. It turns out there is nothing much to do with our story and it is can be much more confusing. In the car later on the cops of course are talking about food and they suggest that they might not have McDonald's but the Swedish snacks don't look too good. When they mention Travolta this was not they were talking about Tarantino this is about ten years earlier and his first famous films and his dancing. Here we are in Stockholm, it is not too pretty, but wet, cold and gritty, clearly not their best times. This is a new Radiance film and one another's of Bo Widerberg, Man on the Roof (1976) which I thought was better.