STOCKHOLM STORIES (Gondolen) B-
Sweden (97 mi) 2013
d: Karin Fahlén Website
This is another one of those interconnecting stories of disconnected
or lost souls whose lives mysteriously intersect, almost like an act of fate,
where an improbable impact suddenly adds the missing ingredient in what are
initially conceived as socially challenged, over-analyzed characters. Woody Allen may be the premiere director at
superimposing his real life nebbish personality into comedies of anxiety, where
he often makes fun of his various neuroses, as do many of his film characters,
none better than Diane Keaton and Mia Farrow.
Swedish director Karin Fahlén’s first feature film is a comedy where the
common thread is over-analysis, where characters spend way too much time
thinking about themselves, often with disastrous results. While the Swedes have always had an unhealthy
rivalry with neighboring countries, especially the Danes, perhaps these
characters have been overly affected by Danish philosopher Søren Kierkagaard,
as they all feel overwhelmed by a deep case of existential despair. The film originated from the 2007 collected
short stories The Second Goal (Det andra
målet) by writer/actor Jonas Karlsson, where a recurring theme is isolated
or lonely individuals, most of whom are trying to hide the fact that they are
alone. Adapted by the director, she
connects six of these characters together, creating a series of interwoven
stories that take place in and around Stockholm. The director’s parents both worked in Swedish
films of the 60’s, her mother with Olle Hellbom and Tage Danielsson, and her
father with Ingmar Bergman, Bo Widerberg, and Roy Andersson, while Karin
initially studied to become a make up artist at Stockholm’s Dramatiska
Institutet, also wrote screenplays and worked as a director’s assistant prior
to making her first feature film.
Much of this comedy relies upon absurd humor, with dark
underlying elements, where Stockholm is often seen as a dark, foreboding place,
often shot in overcast grays, though overall a lighter tone prevails, making
this ensemble comedy very audience friendly. Perhaps the center of it all is Johan (Martin
Wallström), a delusional and manically obsessed would-be writer trying to find
his way out of his father’s footsteps, as his father was a revered writer, but
Johan tries to worm his way into the public’s eye through nefarious means. His big theory relies upon the removal of
light, being plunged into darkness, thinking only then can people really
discover one another. Anna (Julia
Ragnarsson), Johan’s sister, is seen being indiscreetly thrown out of a hotel
by Thomas (Jonas Karlsson), an uptight, overly reserved guy who is more of a
bootlicker that lives to please his boss, Lena (Marie Richardson), the Minister
of Finance, usually eliminating problems through underhanded and cruelly
devised means. Meanwhile Douglas (Filip
Berg), is the stuttering trust fund child still living at home with his sanity
challenged parents, and secretly has a crush on Anna, who we discover is the
lesbian lover of Lena. Then last, but
not least, is Jessica (Cecilia Frode), a kind of Swedish Diane Wiest, with
floppy blond hair looking a bit like the Rolling Stones Brian Jones. We see her heartbroken after being denied the
right to adopt, as they questioned her entirely absent network of friends. She works at an advertising agency, working
best when left alone.
Overhearing one of her coworkers talk about a gag they
pulled years ago, Jessica points her finger to a name at random in the phone
book, and then mails that person an anonymous letter, which turns out to be
Thomas, who becomes rabidly obsessed with receiving a letter from someone he
doesn’t even know. Following her,
literally stalking her, cornering her at her apartment doorway, she refuses to
acknowledge she sent the letter, where briefly they are divided only by a pane
of glass. Anna has been thrown out into
the street and is none too happy about it, but her pride coerces Lena to come
clean about her sexual preference with her husband, or she’ll tell him. Douglas, meanwhile, is his demented father’s
whipping boy, taking refuge with Anna, following her wherever she goes, as
neither one of them seems to have a friend in the entire world. Meanwhile, Johan is still on the loose, a
madman using a writer’s persona, who unravels feverishly with his eyes set on
the Stockholm electrical power plant, threatening to blow it up with a bomb
unless they shut down all the lights in Stockholm. Being Swedish, the maintenance engineers
couldn’t be more polite, directing him to the appropriate department where
they’re all too happy to oblige, sending Stockholm into the dark. Afterwards, the world looks a little
differently to our motley crew, finding fewer obstacles standing in their way,
discovering perhaps a glimpse of light in the continually overcast Stockholm
skies.
