Here Is Harold (2014)

After 40 years, Harold's successful business selling furniture, is bankrupt when IKEA decides to open a new superstore right next door. In anger and despair, he decides to go to Sweden to kidnap the IKEA-founder himself, Ingvar Kamprad.

Director:

Gunnar Vikene

Writer:

Gunnar Vikene

Stars:

Bjørn Sundquist, Fanny Ketter, Björn Granath

2 wins & 3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Bjørn Sundquist	...	Harold
Fanny Ketter	...	Ebba
Björn Granath	...	Kamprad
Grethe Selius	...	Marny
Vidar Magnussen	...	Jan
Ellen Birgitte Winther	...	Jeanette
Veslemøy Mørkrid	...	Solveig
Amina Eleonora Bergrem	...	Christine
Thias Salberg	...	Simon (as Thias Solberg)
Samuel Hellström	...	Christer
Evert Lindkvist	...	Herr Mårtensson
Lena-Pia Bernhardsson	...	Fru Mårtensson
Susann Bugge Kambestad	...	Silje
Olaf Heggdal	...	Rasmussen
Staale Fosse	...	Kim

Storyline

For over 40 years, Harold has been running a successful business, "Lunde Furniture" together with his wife, Marny. But this comes to an end when IKEA decides to open a new superstore right next door to Harold's small furniture shop. Harold and Marny lose both their shop and their home to the bank, and to make matter worse, Marny is starting to lose her memory. In mounting anger and desperation, Harold wants revenge. He arms himself with a pistol, gets into his old Saab, and sets off for Älmhult, Sweden, in order to kidnap his Nemesis - the founder of IKEA, Ingvar Kamprad. But unfortunately, Kamprad is quite happy to be kidnapped.

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Plot Keywords:

ikea | humming in a car | singing in a car | life | lifetime | 

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Taglines:

Hurrah for Harold!

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama

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Did You Know?

Trivia

Based on a novel by Frode Grytten.

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Soundtracks

Improvisation on Invention No. 4
Performed by Mike Silverman/Brentwood Bach Society
Written by Johann Sebastian Bach (as J.S. Bach)
Licensed by courtesy of Autumn Hill Records

User Reviews

Quirky comedy with great laughs

"Here is Harold" is another of those Norwegian comedies I really love. Understated, real and slowly going over the top, without any grace, but with loads of charm and laughs. I've seen so many now, and I really love them all. Further down here, you'll find others like it.

Harold is close to becoming a pensioner. His wife is drifting into Alzheimer's, and 40 years of "furnituring Åsane" is over, due to a large IKEA shopping center is built up right beside his old store. He goes out of business, having to say goodbye to bis Mercedes, and nurses a hatred against the whole IKEA-thing. But Harold isn't the one accepting this without actions.

Bjørn Sundquist is fabulous as Harold, as we've seen him many times before in great roles liker this. He really deserves a movie where he can act it all out in more than a supporting role. That is what we get here. Sundquist in full bloom. Simply great acting as the grumpy man he portrays.

Gunnar Vikene has got acclaim for The features "Himmelfall" and "Vegas", which I both liked. The film closes to this is without doubt Himmelfall. But this also resembles films from other Norwegian film auteur's like Rune Denstad Langlo and Bent Hamer. We see the same great understated humor that we found in "Nord" (of which this storytelling also resembles quite much), "Eggs", "O'Horten", "A somewhat gentle man", "In order of disappearance" and so on. I really would say this is my favorite way of making a comedy. On the negative side, I'll have to note the problem that mist viewers would expect a bigger climax to this story. That really didn't bother me. But I could have gone on for another half hours watching Harold without hurting other than my laughing muscles.

If you're in for some light entertainment, though with a serious back wall, this is probably oner you should check out. Just liker in the films mentioned, you'll have some great laughs, of which you'll never forget, and remember this film for.

Details

Official Sites:

Mer film [Norway] Official site [Japan]

Country:

Norway

Language:

Swedish Norwegian

Release Date:

31 October 2014 (Norway)

Also Known As:

Harold y su manual de secuestro

Filming Locations:

Bergen, Hordaland, Norway

Box Office

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$298,244

Company Credits

Production Co:

Film Fund FUZZ, Filmpool Nord, Mer Film

Technical Specs

Runtime:

87 min

Color:

Color