En man som heter Ove (2015)

Ove, an ill-tempered, isolated retiree who spends his days enforcing block association rules and visiting his wife's grave, has finally given up on life just as an unlikely friendship develops with his boisterous new neighbors.

Director:

Hannes Holm

Writers:

Hannes Holm (screenplay), Fredrik Backman (novel)

Stars:

Rolf Lassgård, Bahar Pars, Filip Berg

Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 16 wins & 27 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Rolf Lassgård	...	Ove
Bahar Pars	...	Parvaneh
Filip Berg	...	Unga Ove (young Ove)
Ida Engvoll	...	Sonja
Tobias Almborg	...	Patrick
Klas Wiljergård	...	Jimmy
Chatarina Larsson	...	Anita
Börje Lundberg	...	Rune
Stefan Gödicke	...	Oves pappa (Ove's father)
Johan Widerberg	...	Vitskjortan
Anna-Lena Brundin	...	Journalisten Lena (as Anna-Lena Bergelin)
Nelly Jamarani	...	Sepideh
Zozan Akgün	...	Nasanin
Viktor Baagøe	...	Ove 7 år (7 year-old Ove)
Simon Edenroth	...	Adrian

Storyline

59 year old Ove is the block's grumpy man who several years earlier was deposed as president of the condominium association, but he could not give a damn about being deposed and therefore keeps looking over the neighborhood with an iron fist. When pregnant Parvaneh and her family moves into the terraced house opposite and accidentally backs into Ove's mailbox it turns out to be an unexpected friendship. A drama comedy about unexpected friendship, love and the importance of surrounding yourself with the proper tools.

---

Plot Keywords:

botched suicide | grumpy old man | visiting wife's grave | grumpy neighbor | bus crash | 

---

Taglines:

Grumpy old men aren't born, they're made...

---

Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

---

Certificate:

M

Did You Know?

Trivia

When Sepideh discuss building a house with Ove, the video game she plays on her laptop is Construction Simulator 2015.

---

Goofs

To emphasize a Spanish holiday atmosphere music by Demis Roussos can be heard. Demis Roussos is a Greek singer and his music would be more suitable to create a Greek holiday atmosphere.

---

Quotes

Ove: They say the brain works faster as it is dying. As if the outside world is moving in slow motion.

---

Connections

Referenced in WatchMojo: Top 10 Great Movies You Missed This Fall (2016)

---

Soundtracks

En stund på jorden
Written by Laleh Pourkarim (as Pourkarim)
Performed by Laleh Pourkarim (as Laleh)
© MXM Music AB
(p) 2013 Warner Music Sweden AB

User Reviews

"Gran Torino"-reminding Swedish movie

"A Man Called Ove" (2015 release from Sweden) brings the story of 59 yr. old Ove. As the movie opens, we see him bickering in a store over the price of flowers on his way to visit his wife Sonja's grave. Not long thereafter, he is given the boot at work, after a 43 yr. career in train maintenance. This leaves him with plenty of time to do the rounds of the small (and traffic-free) community where he lives. Then a young family moves in across the street, not knowing the many strict rules of the community. All along, Ove can't wait to join his beloved Sonja in the hereafter. At this point we're 15 min. into the movie but to tell you more of the plot would spoil your viewing experience, you'll just have to see for yourself how it all plays out.

Couple of comments: first of all, if you have seen the trailer, you are probably expecting something along the line of that other recent Swedish movie, the funny and irreverent "The 100 Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared", as certainly the trailer gives that expectation. Let me stop you right there, as "A Man Called Ove" turns out to be almost nothing like it, and in fact I will say that the movie's trailer is outright misleading. "A Man Called Ove" certainly has some funny moments here and there, but in fact deals a lot more with how someone deals with facing life without a dearly beloved significant other. The movie cleverly looks back at the budding romance between Ove and Sonja in a number of flashbacks, and it's not until the very last 15 min. that we get the full picture. (During one of those flashbacks, we hear Demis Roussos' "Forever and Ever" in the background, which I literally hadn't heard in decades. That guy was HUGE in Europe in the 70s.) The movie also looks at the importance of neighbors and the immediate community (and even integration of migrants, as the wide of the young family fled Iran and is now completely fluent in Swedish). The movie that came to mind as I was watching this is Clint Eastwood's "Gran Torino" of a few years ago. Indeed, certain parallels are uncanny (grumpy older guy, love for cars (in "Ove" it's a Saab), dealing with personal loss, adjusting to new neighbors, etc. Rolf Lassgard is outstanding in the title role, and kudos also to Barar Pars as the young wife from Iran.

"A Man Called Ove" opened with little pre-release fanfare at my local art-house theater here in Cincinnati. The Friday early evening screening where I saw this at was attended very nicely, somewhat to my surprise. So much the better! If you are up for a bittersweet Swedish movie about an older gentleman's adjustment to a new world, I think you will like this quite a bit. "A Man Called Ove" is worth checking out!

Details

Official Sites:

Official site [Japan] official webpage

Country:

Sweden

Language:

Swedish Persian

Release Date:

22 December 2016 (New Zealand)

Also Known As:

A Man Called Ove

Filming Locations:

Trollhättan, Västra Götalands län, Sweden

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$54,608, 2 October 2016

Gross USA:

$3,479,315

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$30,692,889

Company Credits

Production Co:

Tre Vänner Produktion AB, Film i Väst, Nordisk Film

Technical Specs

Runtime:

116 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1