The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared (2013)
Certified: 12
Duration: 112 minutes
Directed by: Felix Herngren,
Starring: Robert Gustafsson, Iwar Wiklander, David Wiberg, Mia Skäringer, Jens Hultén, Bianca Cruzeiro, Alan Ford, Sven Lönn, David Shackleton, Georg Nikoloff, Sibylle Bernardin
KRS Releasing Ltd
The long-titled film is the adaptation of the 2010 novel of the same name by Jonas Jonasson which sold more than three million copies worldwide. This film has become the most successful and grossing film in Swedish film history, taking in more than $50 million when it was made on a $9 million budget.
This picture has become such a cross-cultural phenomenon that the Berlin Film Festival was willing to bend its rules to let the film take part even though it had been released on its home soil.
Interestingly titled and extremely oddball in nature, Felix Herngren’s movie deserves to be seen as it is a movie experience like none other.
It follows Allan Karlsson (Robert Gustafsson) who is about to celebrate his 100th birthday but he escapes and tries to get out of town.
He meets and finds a sort of likeness and similarity in Julian (Iwar Wiklander), a retired stationmaster. When he tries to buy a train ticket, it results in a series of events that are, to say the least, unusual.
Allan ends up on the bad end of a biker gang, gathering an entourage that also has a circus elephant, and finding a huge amount of cash. The film also inserts critical moments in Allan’s life which are as diverse as can be.
These include the Cold War, the Manhattan Project, Sharing a Drink with Stalin and the Spanish Civil War. However, the one true constant in his life have been explosives which are his true obsession.
His life has been a party and he sees his future as a continuation of this party. It has been a rich and colourful life, one however that has now left him lonely.
This film is hilarious and contagious in its enthusiasm and over-the-top approach.
The outlandish moments and at the same time the weirdness coated with charm adds further dimensions to the movie’s overall aura and look.
The result is a Forrest Gump-style film with a decisive European oddball flavour which makes it even more of an oddity that oozes charm and wit. Everything is helped along by the fact that Gustafsson delivers a strong performance that is the lynchpin on which the plot revolves.
The film is a sort of modern fable without being cloyingly sweet. And its sense of comedy can cross language and cultural boundaries.