It may be cliché to say, but it takes two to tango. That is certainly the environment that the film, A Horrible Woman (En frygtelig kvinde) operates in. This Danish dramedy is a provocative observation of a dysfunctional relationship. It is also one that will prompt some serious discussion by audiences in its wake. The…
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Palace Cinema’s third annual Scandinavian Film Festival, sponsored by Volvo, opens around the country this July, offering a selection of 22 films from Norway, Sweden, Iceland and Finland. Director Rune Denstad Langlo‘s sharp and insightful black comedy, Welcome to Norway will open the festival. The film follows an aspiring hotel owner who turns his half-built…
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The third Volvo Scandinavian Film Festival to be presented by Palace cinema, plans to bring the best new films from Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland and Iceland to Palace screens this July. Having in the past decade pierced the western cannon with gritty stories Let The Right One In and The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet…
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Hollywood charm and charisma just doesn’t exist the way it did in the Golden Age of Cinema. The “It” Factor, that certain something that turns a simple screen test into an experience akin to finding cinematic gold, is now often replaced or loosely recreated through physical enhancements, as if Botox or a boob job is…
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The 2015 Scandinavian Film Festival is currently underway at cinemas around Australia, bringing audiences together to view some exemplary pieces of film from the other side of the globe. Continuing through until July 29th, the festival has already premiered some true highlights from some great European directors. One on the program’s exciting features this year…
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Paris of the North is director Hafsteinn Gunnar Sigurðsson‘s second feature film. His first feature was the Icelandic comedy Either Way, which was remade into the US film Prince Avalanche, directed by David Gordon Green. The film was written by Icelandic script writer and novelist Huldar Breidðfjörð. Long time actor and musician Helgi Björnsson plays the father (an unwanted guest); previously…
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For another year, the diversity found in Scandinavian cinema is being celebrated across Australia with the Scandinavian Film Festival. The festival has currently began in Sydney and Melbourne and will be kicking off in other major Australian cities throughout this month. To learn more about the evolution of the festival and what we can expect…
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The Scandinavian Film Festival is ecstatic to announce its full line-up of 22 feature films that are set to play at the festival this year, framed by the witty opening night comedy Here Is Harold (Her Er Harold) and closing night film Ingrid Bergman: In Her Own Words (Jag ar Ingrid). This documentary is set…
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In the bleak Icelandic countryside, Hera (Thora Bjorg Helga) lives with her brother Baldur and their parents on a dairy farm in a small, isolated community. After her brother dies in a tragic tractor accident, Hera immerses herself in the heavy metal culture that he loved so much. Throughout her teenage years, while her parents…
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Here it is: the final installment in the Easy Money franchise: Life Deluxe. Old favourites are back, old scores need to be settled, and new players find themselves drawn into Sweden’s dark criminal underbelly. JW (Joel Kinnaman) is on the run after his successful robbery at the conclusion of Hard to Kill, and has made…
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2010 film Easy Money was a runaway hit in Sweden (so much so that a US remake with Zac Efron is in the works). The film, based on the novel of the same name by Jens Lapidus, centred on Stockholm’s gangland wars, with multiple stories of the descent into darkness culminating in one fatal, climactic…
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Spooks and Spirits is the story of thirty-somethings Ingi (Gísli Örn Garðarsson) and Anna (Ilmur Kristjánsdóttir), a happy couple on the verge of starting the next big chapter of their lives together. Anna’s father, Ófeigur (Þórhallur Sigurðsson) is recently deceased and the couple plans to sell his house in favour of somewhere more family-oriented. But when Ófeigur makes an…
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I’ve not watched a huge amount of Swedish cinema in my life, but the few films that I have watched have the same stylistic feature that has led me to believe something about Swedish dramas: that they are characterised by a distinct visual and narrative style based in honesty and stark realism. This realism is…
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Performing arts has always been – and will always be – fertile ground for documentary filmmaking. Clashing egos and high stakes in the pursuit of a craft is always going to be fun for a camera to follow, and we’ve seen it work multiple times over in movies like Every Little Step, Mad Hot Ballroom,…
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Heart Of A Lion (Leijonasydän) is a Finnish drama that asks the question, “Should you be ruled your head or by your heart?” It’s an age-old conflict and yet, this film manages to deal with this along with two sensitive and timely topics (racism and nationalism). Directed by Dome Karukoski, Heart Of A Lion is…
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We may be on the opposite side of the world, but that doesn’t mean that Australia can’t enjoy the Scandinavian Film Festival, which will be premiering across the country in July. The inaugural festival is being presented by Palace Cinemas and the will be screened exclusively in their locations across the country. Attendees will be…
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