User reviews

Yngsjömordet is an adaption of a true murder story that happened 1889 in Yngsjö, a small village in Skåne (the southernmost county in Sweden) It is one of the most talked about murder cases in Swedish history mainly due to the sexual relationship between the murderer and his mother. Norman Bates was apparently not the first psychopath with a complicated relationship to his mother. Several authors have written books inspired by the events and the story has been adapted to film twice. The reason why writers and filmmakers come back to this story might be the fact that nobody really knows what actually happened that night. There were no witnesses except the mother and the son... A short English summary of the real events can be found on Wikipedia etc. You might not want to read it until you have watched the film as it might spoil the plot. But be sure to go there afterwards and look at the real faces of the murderer and the victim. The similarities with the two women actors were a bit chocking to me. Very good casted! Arne Mattson again shows that he has talent. While there might be one or two sudden cuts that could be done better the camera work is creative. The film is almost Bergmanesque at times. I especially liked the opening. Not a single word is uttered for several minutes. The camera tells everything and when the first word is uttered it continues a story already told in pictures. After the opening the film moves on to the court room. For a few minutes I feared the film was going to be a court room drama. But it is just a short sequence. Instead of seeing the courtroom and hearing the witnesses we see what the witnesses saw the night of the murder. And afterwards we see what really happened. The execution at the end was very well made and actually disturbing.

I think the actors performed well, especially Gunnel Lindblom who performs the mother. Gösta Ekman who plays the son should also be mentioned. He later became a famous actor here in Sweden, mainly in comedies (The Apple War, The Man Who Quit Smoking etc), but here he shows he can play a psychopath too.