Jägarna

Sundvall has made an intense movie about illegal hunting. It's loaded with tense and excitement. Actually, it's about people living in a desolated place, not wanting to play with the rules of the community. We haven't seen such an intense movie in Sweden for at least a decade.

I dont know how many times i have seen this movie. Its so great. Its about a small society where everyone know each other and protect each other (in this case not a good thing). Its also about a will to do the right thing even if it will make you a loner and enemy to nearly everyone you know. And all this in a beautiful north of Sweden. This movie can be seen as a modern nordic Western movie.

And eventhough someone wouldnt like the movie you can always listen to the beautiful movietheme who sets the sence of melancholy right from the start.

"Jagarna" was brought to Canadian audiences via the Showcase TV network during a Scandinavian film festival -- and thank goodness it was! What an amazing character-driven story which not only delves into a poaching conspiracy but the emotionally-charged relationship between two brothers. Pure brilliance and highly recommended. An all-time favorite.

The story here is kicked off by reports of illegal slaughter of reindeer. Local police turn a blind eye to the culprits, so a Stockholm detective, who was originally from the area, returns home and investigates. Things get complicated when he discovers his younger brother is involved but worse than that, the poaching has escalated into murder.

I had seen the sequel to this Swedish thriller recently, a film called False Trail which was made fifteen years after the first part. I am guessing that The Hunters is a fairly influential film, as it comes very early in the cycle of Nordic Noir movies which have become very popular over the course of the last decade or so. Like others in this bracket, this one derives a fair bit of its interest from its local flavour, in this case the chilly expanses of Lapland. Like False Trail, this one also presents a mystery which is resolved for the audience quite early on, leaving the tension to come from knowing who is dangerous and wondering how the central detective will resolve the case. For me personally, I would have preferred a mystery over the combination of thriller with family drama which both films essentially boil down to a large degree, with the detective character put in a compromised position where he has to weigh up his family loyalty over his wider role to society as a policeman, with the added complication of small town suspicion of city people ever present. I think both films are broadly similar in terms of quality, with neither being especially excellent. I thought they were more an example of a solid, if unremarkable, detective stories combined with family drama with a northern Swedish backdrop. Nothing wrong with any of that of course but I would say these are good films as opposed to the best Nordic Noir has to offer.

Sundvall has a good ear for dialogue, and uses his locations to great effect. One main problem with contemporary Swedish movies is the wooden dialogue, which is largely avoided here. The story holds together well in the beginning, but the naturalism and believability Sundvall builds up completely vanishes towards the end, which is unfortunate and ultimately makes this a rather average movie. The script has some irritating holes, like the subplot with Lassgårds love interest which is mysteriously left unresolved. The last act is also a indication of the current "Americanization" of Swedish cinema which is a rather sad phenomenom. We should make movies on our own terms and be wary of too many american influences, those estethics tend to become overblown, predictable and unrealistic when translated into Swedish.