Mannen från Mallorca (1984)

User Rating:

6.8/10   

Director:

Bo Widerberg

Writers:

Leif G.W. Persson (novel)
Bo Widerberg (writer)

Release Date:

12 October 1984 (Sweden)

Genre:

Crime

Plot:

In Stockholm, on St. Lucy's feast day, a bandit daringly robs a crowded post office. Within a fortnight...

Plot Keywords:

Police | Armed Robbery | Cover Up | Alcoholic | Christmas

Awards:

1 win & 2 nominations

Cast

Sven Wollter	...	Inspector Jarnebring
Tomas von Brömssen	...	Inspector Johansson
Håkan Serner	...	Inspector Andersson
Ernst Günther	...	Dahlgren
Thomas Hellberg	...	Berg
Ingvar Hirdwall	...	Fors
Niels Jensen	...	Roger 'Rogge' Jansson
Tommy Johnson	...	Inspector Rundberg
Rico Rönnbäck	...	Kjell Göran Hedberg
Hans Villius	...	Minister of Justice
Sten Lonnert	...	Olsson, alcoholic
Nina Gunke	...	Eva Zetterberg
Margreth Weivers	...	Alva Wiström
Gun Karlsson	...	Mrs. Forsberg, witness at the post office
Marie Delleskog	...	Janna, 'Rogges' sister

Also Known As:

The Man from Majorca

Runtime:

106 min

Country:

Sweden | Norway

Language:

Swedish

Colour:

Colour (Fujicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Certification:

Iceland:12 | Finland:K-12 | Norway:12 | Sweden:11

Filming Locations:

Biologiska Muséet, Djurgården, Stockholm, Stockholms län, Sweden

Company:

Crone Film Sales

Trivia:

Carl-Gustaf Lindstedt was supposed to play Dahlgren, but because of his health he was replaced by Ernst Günther.

Goofs:

Factual errors: The film shows it to be completely dark outside when Johansson is celebrating Christmas with his son and his ex-wife; however, when he leaves, they are still watching the Disney Christmas Special which airs every Christmas in Sweden at 15.00 CET. There is still daylight in the Stockholm area by then.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Stjärnbilder (1995)

Thriller held in a firm grip

Director Widerberg could do very well in widely separate genres. He did a few crime stories on cinema, but never just for the 'who dunnit'. There had to be a burning social message, something rotting in the kingdom.

Here it sure is. The Leif GW Persson novel, on which the film is based, is about misuse of power, all the way up. The novel is actually loosely based on a political scandal in Sweden, which Persson was involved in revealing.

Widerberg's movie has got several qualities, way beyond that of creating a thrill. With a very firm grip, of the kind only somebody that skilled as a director can have, he tightens the suspense, intensifies the conflict, broadens the importance of what takes place, until the film becomes an unpleasant, but in its own way accurate, revelation about modern society. And it's a good thrill, too.

A trivia of interest to none but me, I guess, is that one of the locations is my apartment at that time.