The 100-Year-Old Man...

"...Who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared," or "Hundraåringen som klev ut genom fönstret och försvann," whichever suits you best. This entry from Sweden (English captions when necessary) is my first rave review from the 2014 Seattle International Film Festival. This black, black comedy played to a packed house; it generated howls of laughter throughout, then thunderous applause when it ended. Some of us laughed all the way home on the bus, too. Director Felix Herngren crafted a brilliant script along with Hans Ingemansson, which was based on Jonas Jonasson's novel about a Zelig-type fellow who loves blowie uppie stuff. Over the course of this hilarious film, we see him with General Franco of Spain, Josef Stalin, Harry Truman, Herbert Einstein (Albert's brother), J. Robert Oppenheimer of the Manhattan Project, Mikhail Gorbachev, Ronald Reagan and others I failed to note at the time. The movie starts when his beloved cat is killed by a fox...so he promptly blows it up, and it goes on from there. The marvelous script unfolds in a logical way, it just sounds so unlikely! We follow: Robert Gustafsson as Allan Karlsson (brilliant award-winning makeup!), as he ages from a young man who suffers an unfortunate surgery to a very elderly man who loves aquavit and vodka. He has a very simplistic world view and tends to let the big issues roll right off his back. Iwar Wiklander as Julius, the cordial fellow who helps our hero with his unwieldy suitcase (you should see how he came by THAT!) and dispose of that pesky corpse. David Wiberg is Benny, a perpetual student who never finishes anything he starts. He needs a firm hand. Mia Skäringer is Gunilla, who has a very firm hand (and an elephant)! We also have a terrific supporting cast: a law enforcement officer trying to make sense of the case; an infuriated mob boss demanding that suitcase (if only his thugs could find it!); that other corpse in Djibouti; the elephant who sits on a gunman; plus numerous other lowlifes, thugs and molls. Little touches, like the music's exact match to Allan's footsteps, the cars and clothes that perfectly suit each time period, the senior discount for the bus ticket. It goes on and on.... SEE THIS FILM. * * * * * * * * * * * * See what I mean: http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi2283254041  * * * * * * * * * * * *