The Laser Man (2005– )
"Lasermannen" (original title)

Stars:

David Dencik, Mats Blomgren, Sten Johan Hedman

1 nomination.

Cast

Series cast summary:
David Dencik	...	John Ausonius (3 episodes, 2005)
Mats Blomgren	...	Sjöberg (3 episodes, 2005)
Sten Johan Hedman	...	Thorstensson (3 episodes, 2005)
Ralph Carlsson	...	Bergkvist (3 episodes, 2005)
Sten Ljunggren	...	Thorin (3 episodes, 2005)
Sven Ahlström	...	Eiler Augustsson (3 episodes, 2005)
Örjan Landström	...	Börje Sehlstedt (3 episodes, 2005)
Kenneth Milldoff	...	Forss (3 episodes, 2005)
Rasmus Troedsson	...	Sonny Björk (3 episodes, 2005)
Claes Hartelius	...	Funcke (3 episodes, 2005)
Mathias Lithner	...	Gustaf (3 episodes, 2005)
Amanda Ooms	...	Ilse (3 episodes, 2005)
Rafael Pettersson	...	Biluthyrare (3 episodes, 2005)
Alexander Karim	...	Beraki (2 episodes, 2005)
Baker Karim	...	Bruck (2 episodes, 2005)
Mikael Wranell	...	Alexander (2 episodes, 2005)
Leif Andrée	...	Tommy Lindström (2 episodes, 2005)
Andreas Kundler	...	Bengt Lindenborg (2 episodes, 2005)
Amir Chamdin	...	Heberson Da Costa (2 episodes, 2005)
Ashraf Ashkar	...	Sharam Khosravi (2 episodes, 2005)
Nisti Stërk	...	Hassans fru (2 episodes, 2005)
Dennis Önder	...	Hassan Zatara (2 episodes, 2005)
Lena B. Eriksson	...	Margot (2 episodes, 2005)
Gorki Glaser-Müller	...	Erik Bongcam (2 episodes, 2005)
Jonas Kruse	...	Benny (2 episodes, 2005)
Cecilia Hjalmarsson-Milldoff	...	Läkaren St Eriks sjukhus (2 episodes, 2005)
Ulrika Fryckstedt	...	Vera på Guldrullen (2 episodes, 2005)
Pale Olofsson	...	Eklind KTH (2 episodes, 2005)
Sten Elfström	...	Läkare (2 episodes, 2005)
Viktor Källander	...	Menig (2 episodes, 2005)
Ulf Friberg	...	Ulf Åsgård (2 episodes, 2005)
Jill Runestedt	...	Parkeringsvakt (2 episodes, 2005)
Christian Rinmad	...	Pierre (2 episodes, 2005)
Björn Andrésen	...	Nilsson (2 episodes, 2005)
Stefan Gödicke	...	Borg (2 episodes, 2005)

Storyline

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Plot Keywords:

1990s | racism | stockholm sweden | 1980s | murder | 

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Genres:

Biography | Crime | Drama | Thriller

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Details

Country:

Sweden

Language:

Swedish German English Arabic

Release Date:

27 November 2005 (Sweden)

Also Known As:

The Laser Man

Filming Locations:

Stockholm, Stockholms län, Sweden

Company Credits

Production Co:

Jarowskij AB, SVT Fiktion

Technical Specs

Runtime:

270 min 270 min (3 parts)

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The character of 'Gustav' is entirely based on real life psychiatrist Kalle Eriksson.

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Goofs

While in South Africa, John Ausonius rides in a taxi with license plates that end in "GP", meaning "Gauteng Province". Gauteng was actually formed several years after Ausonius visited South Africa. An actual taxi from that era probably would have had license plates ending in "T", for "Transvaal".

User Reviews

Detailed account of a mad-man's path to hell

In the early 1990's a person shoots immigrant males in the Stockholm area. Some of the witnesses describe a red dot of light. The shooter was using a gun mounted with a laser sight.

The series, in three feature-length parts, recounts the true events leading up to the arrest of one of Sweden's most wanted criminals.

We see the danish actor, David Dencik -- a relatively fresh face in Sweden, portray Ausonius, a person totally devoid of the tools for proper social contact. It's agonizing to see Ausonius feeble attempts at interacting with other people. The moment the other person fails to match Ausonius' own picture of the world, a venomous hate boils up and over. Dencik's portrayal is very finely balanced. Especially as his role is in three parts.

Firstly, Ausonius' time as a student before his shooting spree, along with a troubled time in the army during conscription.

Secondly the period during the actual shootings/bank robberies.

And thirdly, scenes from his exclusive interviews with Gellert Tamas, a journalist on who's book this series is based.

These three parts are threaded, so that a more complete portrait of Ausonius' psyche can be painted. The patching of the scenes is a way of driving home the fact that Ausonius' behaviour has grown out of a troubled background coupled with a twisted view of his surroundings. Rather that showing the events purely chronologically, the filmmakers have opted for a style as if one has a book and needs to turn back to a earlier part to be able to study a point in time more closely.

The other main thread in the series is the painstaking police-work. The actual police hunt is a plodding affair. Because of the fact that Ausonius' crimes (the "indiscriminate" shooting of members of the male public with darker skin colour than Ausonius' own and a long string of bank robberies) were seemingly random, seemingly perpetrated by different people, the police took a very long time to focus on him.

When, in the third programme, the police receive a psychological picture of the culprit, another policeman (working on the murder of Olof Palme) remembers an earlier suspect from that investigation. The results of the profile match Ausonius psychological and active history exactly.

From that moment on, Ausonius' days at large were numbered. Ausonius' meticulously deranged plans finally become his own trap as police, needing more evidence of his activities, are tailing him and are present when he comes running out of a bank after the last of his robberies.

Lasermannen is a superb series. It oozes a creepy, realistic quality. The tired detectives, frustrated by yet more weird shootings and crazy, irrational behaviour to follow-up. Bewildered people that knew Ausonius and had to deal with him in person. Along with the victims themselves, the horribly unfortunate people shot at random and the people caught up in his other criminal behaviour.

Sad, sickening events that helped create a nasty climate in Sweden at that time.

Grim, of course, but it is also a high point in Swedish television production.