A Man Called Ove: Prime Video ~ Non-Spoiler Review

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🇸🇪 A Man Called Ove 🇸🇪

A Man Called Ove, aka En man som heter Ove (2015) is a Swedish drama, comedy, romance film on Amazon Prime U.K. US, Canada. 1 hr 56 min. Swedish with English subtitles available. Cert 15 U.K.

Cast:

Rolf Lassgård as Ove
Ida Engvoll as Sonja
Bahar Pars as Parvaneh
Filip Berg as Young Ove
Tobias Almborg as Patrik
Chatarina Larsson as Anita
Johan Widerberg as White Shirt
Stefan Gödicke as Ove’s dad
Anna-Lena Bergelin as the journalist, Lena
Klas Wiljergård as Jimmy
Börje Lundberg as Rune

Crew:

Director: Hannes Holm
Writer: Hannes Holm and Fredrik Backman
Makeup and Hair: Eva Von Bahr and Love Larson
Music: Gaute Storaas

Premise:

“Ove, an ill-tempered, isolated retiree who spends his days enforcing block association rules and visiting his wife’s grave, has finally given up on life just as an unlikely friendship develops with his boisterous new neighbors.” IMDb

Notes:

This movie is based on the 2012 novel of the same name by the Swedish columnist, blogger, and writer Fredrik Backman. The novel was published in English in 2013. The English version reached the New York Times Best Seller list 18 months after it was published and stayed on the list for 42 weeks.

Review:

I watched A Man Called Ove expecting it to be strongly comedic, and whilst it has very many comedic moments it was, for me, more of a tragicomedy.

Rolf Lassgård is almost unrecognisable as Ove, the hilariously grumpy and stereotypical angry old man. The one liners he is given to deliver are brilliant. It is only when we learn more of his story that we begin to see through the barriers he has built around himself. This story is conveyed through flashbacks and verbally. This is a man who has loved and lost, who sees no real point in living once the love of his life has died.

Who would have thought that attempted suicide could be very funny. For this not to be crass however it needs to be dealt with a deft hand, and here it is with an element of farce.

All the characters, both big and small, seem rounded, with great performances all round – Rolf Lassgård’s is outstanding.

A Man Called Ove is very strong visually, with interesting direction and camerawork. The music score is beautiful. The pacing of this film is great and it never falters. The make-up and hair design are amazing!

By turns this film made me laugh aloud and cry. The juxtaposition of comedy and tragedy works perfectly with one bouncing off the other.

I can highly recommend this movie. It is an endearing and emotionally affecting story with perfectly timed, and written, comedy.

N.B. Bear in mind that there are scenes showing attempted suicide

Awards:

A Man Called Ove was nominated for two Oscars with a further 15 wins and 24 nominations.

Wins include:
European Film Awards, 2016 European Comedy ~ Hannes Holm
Guldbagge Awards, 2016 Best Make-Up ~ Love Larson & Eva Von Bahr; Best Actor ~ Rolf Lassgård; Audience Award
Camille Awards, 2017 Best Orchestral Score ~ Gaute Storaas

Trailer:

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