Hey, everyone. ”Moriarty” here.

I always love it when someone sends in an international report on their local cinema scene, and TheNorthlander’s a longtime regular in our chat room who felt like he had to pipe up about what’s going on in Sweden.

In particular, there’s this film called VARG...

Hey guys, The Northlander here.

Ok, I know this is a mostly americentric website, with some Brittish and Asian content added usually, but I figured hey - it's a global net and it might be fun with a different view for a change.

So I just got home from watching an early showing of VARG (Int. title WOLF (and no not the Nicholson one)). This is a new Swedish drama starring Peter Stormare.

VARG is a character driven piece around an hour and a half set in the northlands of Sweden, around where I grew up actually, which is one of the reasons I really wanted to see this. It's a very beautiful landscape and not a whole lot of movies are filmed up there about that people.

Stormare plays Klemens, a man of Sami descent who struggles to keep with the old ways of reindeer herding while pressured by family and others in the village to sell off the herd and let his nephew go off to school instead of learning from Stormare how to keep the reindeers.

The Sami are the native indigenous people of Sweden, they have their own language, culture, faith and ways. Comparing them to native americans is not a huge stretch. I think you get the picture.

The following contains some medium sized SPOILERS.

So Klemens' reindeer herd is attacked by a wolf that's been spotted in the area, and it kills a lot of his animals. He and his 18-year-old nephew go out on their snow scooters to check it out and they find the wolf. Klemens sends his nephew home, hoping to catch up to and kill the wolf, but keeping the kid out since wolves are an endangered species and you could go to jail for up to four years for killing one. He sets out after it, alone, but when he finds the wolf he also finds his nephew had the same idea and it ends up being the nephew who kills it.
Klemens burns the body and tells the kid never to mention this to anyone, but the authorities finds the remains and Klemens is put on trial.

It's now his nephew who has to make the decision of whether to come clean and risk going to jail for perjury or send his uncle to jail for something he did.

end spoilers.

That's as far as I'm gonna take you, and I am leaving a lot of the story out so in case you find this at a film festival or pick up a dvd you still got a lot of good stuff unspoiled.

I gotta say, seeing Peter Stormare in a serious dramatic role for a change, acting in his native language, is really good. This is probably the best performance I've seen him give, and it's great. He's got the local dialect down perfect, he's not overdoing anything, this is just a really simple relaxed display of him being an actor. That's nice, considdering you mostly see him playing wacky russains in Hollywood blockbusters. Also, there are plenty of great shots in this film of the snowy plains and icy lakes of Jämtland which are really breathtaking at times.

VARG is directed by Daniel Alfredson, brother of one of my personal favorite directors Tomas Alfredson (keep an eye out for his upcoming vampire movie LET THE RIGHT ONE IN aka LET ME IN). I've seen a few of Daniel's films and he's as good as his brother, but he's more into thriller/drama while Tomas has done more comedy. Either way, if you do get a chance ever to see VARG, I can highly recommend it.
It felt kinda like a Swedish THERE WILL BE BLOOD, only without it being epic. Not comparing it on a quality level, but it's that kind of genre. Maybe it was something in the performances, or maybe it was the fact that it's a portrait of a certain kind of people in a certain kind of place. If TWBB was a Swedish story, it would be set up north, and be about a farmer or something.
Hope that made sense.

If not, I hope Kurt Russell is laughing.

And like I said, this is a people and a place that get depicted very rarely in movies. It's also an accurate portrayal and a good movie, so check it out if you get the chance.

How often do you watch good new Swedish dramas?

/TheNorthlander

Good point about seeing Stormare in a serious role in his native tongue. I think a lot of what he does in American films is shtick at this point, and it’s a shame. He’s a damn fine actor who just coasts on “weird” too often.

And, hey, look, TheNorthlander also saw Scorsese’s SHINE A LIGHT, which opens today in the US...

Hey guys, The Northlander here.

I watched SHINE A LIGHT tonight at an early screening and thought I'd share some comments. I read Capone's review and although I'm not gonna be able to write a better one, because I don't know enough about the Stones or their music, my opinions might be valid as a non-fan of theirs.

Don't getta me wrongo, I like The Rolling Stones. I like Rock music, especially from the 60's and 70's. It's the TYPE of stuff I listen to. I just haven't listened to this group in particular all that much. For some reason. So in a way I'm a fan, but not a die hard one. Not even a live free and die hard one. I'd say I'm a casual fan.

But hey that works some times. I would say the same for Bob Dylan's music, but after having seen I'M NOT THERE I've become a much bigger fan of his. It worked as an introduction to the music for me, and I was hoping SHINE A LIGHT would do the same.

Sadly, I'm not so sure anymore. It's a great concert movie experience. It has heaps of energy and it's a ride. But there is one problem: SHINE A LIGHT is a concert movie made by a huge Stones fan for other huge Stone fans. If you're not part of that particular group you're on the outside and this film won't send you an invitation to come join the party.

And that's a bit of a shame since looking in the party seems like a lot of fun.

I WANTED to enjoy this movie, but it's two hours long and having to wait over an hour until I heard a song I recognized was too long for me. By then I had started looking at my watch already.

The clips from old interviews are nice and well picked. I would have liked to see a whole lot more of those, but I suppose if I wanted to I could just go to YouTube for that. But still. And the inclusion of Scorsese himself in the beginning and in the end is fun, but it would have made more sense if he was featured throughout. As it is now, he is this movie's SPIDER-MAN voice over. You know, the one that's in the beginning and in the end but you forget about during the movie because it was never really needed to begin with.

So, for people who own one or more Stones albums that they listen to a lot, I would recommend this. To people who enjoy concert films no matter what, you'll have fun with this one. People who go with their friends who happen to be big fans, you'll have fun, but not as fun as they will. Maybe you should see something else?

Hope that helps.

/TheNorthlander