One of the most wonderful things about having a subscription to films by mail is that it permits me to explore other cultures from my living room. I'd like to tell you about several Scandinavian films that I have watched and enjoyed. You can see evidence of the effect that the United State film industry has had on other cultures, and yet, these films have an quality that transcends cultures and even surpasses anything done in Hollywood. Due to the disturbing themes, none of these are suitable for children.

Finnish: The Man without a Past

Icelandic: Noi the Albino

Norwegian:  Monsterthursday

Swedish: Den Osynlige (The Invisible), Slim Susie

Finnish and Swedish: Mother of mine

A teenage boy goes to school one morning, only to find that no one can hear him.  Or see him.  Basically, he has become invisible.  Sound familiar?  Yeah, it sure does.  It's the plot of The Invisible (2007), which was directed by David S Goyer, and starred Justin Chatwin and my favorite, Marcia Gay Harden.  Billed as a sort of Sixth Sense for this decade, it didn't quite deliver. 

Your best bet is to try the original film, Den Osynlige, directed by Joel Bergvall and Simon Sandquist, and starring Gustaf Skarsgard (son of actor Stellan Skarsgard) as Niklas.  This version provides the back story that holds it all together.  Better yet, read the book, by Mats Wahl.  Swedish.

This film, directed by Aki Kaurismaki, stars Marku Peltola as a man suffering from amnesia after a beating.  Homeless, he escapes the social net, and winds up living in a shipping container.  From this base, he develops a romance with a Salvation Army Officer, played by Kati Outinen.  Finnish.

Slim Susie (Smala Sussie) is usually described as a comedy. Or as a mystery. It's probably a little bit of both. There are aspects of this movie which are very funny, and parts of it which are funny in a very dark way that is completely out of the mainstream American sense of humor, and yet, reminds me so much of living in a small town in Alaska, where everyone knows everything about everyone else. Basically, the plot is about a man who returns to his hometown to look for his missing sister and what he finds as he searches for her. It might be the language (Swedish), it might be the culture, but there are several unexpected twists in this film directed by Ulf Malmros that I never saw coming.

This film ( Nói Albinói), directed by Daqur Kari, is about a teenage boy (Tomas Lemarquis) who manages to be at odds with almost everyone he comes across--from his father to his school.  He is intellectually gifted with no clear potential outlet for his intelligence or talents--his irascibility leads to him being thrown out of school.  Like many people in small towns in Alaska in the winter, he dreams of moving to a warmer climate. Although the ending is foreshadowed, it still comes as a tremendous shock. Icelandic (I like how the language sounds).

I was a little confused by the premise of this movie--is it a love story? A tragedy? A surf movie? Or is Monstertorsdag, directed by Arild Østin Ommundsen, a mixture of all three with a unique Norwegian spin? The film is set in a Norwegian village on the coast. Much of it is filmed in areas eerily familiar to anyone who has lived that far north--the huge sand dunes, held together by the tall sea grass, the unforgiving rocks on the shore, and the beautiful Northern sunlight of the long summer days. The main character, Even, played by Vegar Hoel, is in love with Karen (Silje Salomonsen), who is married to Christian Skoelmen, a professional surfer. In order to prove himself, Even undertakes to learn to surf, even though, as one of the other characters wryly observes, he has no natural ability. I knew that there were big waves and surfers in remote areas of Alaska, so it stands to reason that Norway has developed its own surfing culture.

This film (Aideista parhain), directed by Klaus Haro, is about Finnish boy sent to Sweden during World War II. The boy, played by Topi Majaniemi, clearly does not want to leave his mother, and the great gulf between the power of children and adults is underscored by the willingness of the adults to use physical force to get him out of Finland, especially when they become impatience with his reluctance to evacuate. His life on a remote farm in Sweden is both beautiful and complex, leaving him with problems that continue to haunt him as an adult. Finnish and Swedish.

One film to look forward to: Let the Right One In (2008). Directed by Tomas Alfredson. Vampires. Bullies. Swedish. Not yet out on DVD.