Mannen från Mallorca (1984)

In Stockholm, on St. Lucy's feast day, a bandit daringly robs a crowded post office. Within a fortnight, two witnesses are dead. Two cops from vice squad, Johansson and Jarnebring, who were... See full summary »

Director:

Bo Widerberg

Writers:

Leif G.W. Persson (novel), Bo Widerberg

Stars:

Sven Wollter, Tomas von Brömssen, Håkan Serner

1 win & 2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Sven Wollter	...	Inspector Jarnebring
Tomas von Brömssen	...	Inspector Johansson
Håkan Serner	...	Inspector Andersson
Ernst Günther	...	Dahlgren
Thomas Hellberg	...	Berg
Ingvar Hirdwall	...	Fors
Niels Jensen	...	Roger 'Rogge' Jansson
Tommy Johnson	...	Inspector Rundberg
Rico Rönnbäck	...	Kjell Göran Hedberg
Hans Villius	...	Minister of Justice
Sten Lonnert	...	Olsson, alcoholic
Nina Gunke	...	Eva Zetterberg
Margreth Weivers	...	Alva Wiström
Gun Karlsson	...	Mrs. Forsberg, witness at the post office
Marie Delleskog	...	Janna - Roger's fiancée

Storyline

In Stockholm, on St. Lucy's feast day, a bandit daringly robs a crowded post office. Within a fortnight, two witnesses are dead. Two cops from vice squad, Johansson and Jarnebring, who were the first to the crime scene, pursue all leads and identify a suspect, an arrogant member of the elite secret police, a man assigned to guard the country's Minister of Justice. Just as the beat cops think they've tightened the noose around the suspect, loose ends appear, witnesses lose their certainty, alibis crop up, and even the cops doubt what they've seen. Who's protecting the suspect and why?

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Plot Keywords:

police | armed robbery | cover up | alcoholic | christmas | 

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Genres:

Action | Crime | Thriller

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Details

Country:

Sweden Denmark

Language:

Swedish

Release Date:

12 October 1984 (Sweden)

Also Known As:

The Man from Majorca

Filming Locations:

Biologiska Muséet, Djurgården, Östermalm, Stockholm, Stockholms län, Sweden

Box Office

Gross:

SEK 15,025,552 (Sweden)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Crone Film Sales, Drakfilm Produktion, Filmhuset AS

Technical Specs

Runtime:

106 min

Color:

Color (Fujicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Carl-Gustaf Lindstedt was supposed to play Dahlgren, but because of his health he was replaced by Ernst Günther.

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Goofs

The sound from the TV as Johansson is celebrating Christmas with his son and his ex-wife has the items of the Disney Christmas Special, shown every Christmas in Sweden, coming in the wrong order. When they are sitting in the sofa, the sound is from "Clown of the Jungle", whereas when Johansson is leaving, the sound comes from the end of "Santa's Workshop", which is always shown first.

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Quotes

Dahlgren: That's not my headache. I'm not your boss and for that I am grateful.
Inspector Jarnebring: So are we.
Dahlgren: Good. Than the feeling is mutual.

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Crazy Credits

There are no end credits for this film. All credits are shown at the beginning, and at the end, the film simply fades to black.

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Connections

Featured in Stjärnbilder (1995)

User Reviews

The best political thriller you've never heard of

Lowly Stockholm vice-squad officers, Jarnebring and Johansson, are first on the scene of a robbery and go on to unearth apparent corruption in high places, but the threads are difficult to pull together and the case is hard to crack.

There are so many pleasures in this film that it's a shame that it is so rarely seen. Quite apart from being a good thriller director Bo Widerberg brings twists and slants to what would otherwise be the sort of film that we've seen a hundred times. Although a buddy-buddy movie, J & J's relationship is constructed back-to-front. Instead of going from 'chalk & cheese' to reconciled dream-team, they begin as good friends, with implicit trust between them as colleagues, but the events of the film put this under strain. As a corollary there is no neat ending.

There are some good moments of humour as American and Swedish culture brush up against each other, but the greatest departure from the standard is the insight into Johansson's personal life. Occupying no more than a few minutes screen time, we see the result of his marriage break-up. The scene where he attempts to recapture his relationship with his son is almost painful and his furtive eye contact with another metro traveler is nicely captured. In fact, these brief interludes convey more about the loneliness of a failed relationship than many an entire film. Overall they add a rare depth to this genre. Add to this a great car-chase and the technique of putting a rear facing road-pointing camera on the front of a car, which brilliantly conveys menace.

There is also a well-developed sense of place with all the action set in a wintry Stockholm and it's environs. While we see the city's underbelly (down-and-outs; winos; criminals; alienated youth) it is still an affectionate portrait.

Twenty years on there are some non-P.C. moments as when a suspect is recognised partly as he is seems to be the only foreign-looking person in Stockholm. The ending can also be criticised for leaving a feeling that the ball is still in the air, but this is largely because we cinema-goers are so used to complete resolution.

This is the sort of film that should be made more often. Widerberg rivaled Peter Weir as a director who could make an entertaining yet meaningful and character-driven film.