Out Stealing Horses (2019)

A grieving widower moves to the country where a chance encounter rekindles memories from his past.

Director:

Hans Petter Moland

Writers:

Hans Petter Moland (screenplay), Per Petterson (novel)

Stars:

Stellan Skarsgård, Bjørn Floberg, Tobias Santelmann

6 wins & 7 nominations.

Cast

Credited cast:
Stellan Skarsgård	...	Trond
Bjørn Floberg	...	Lars
Tobias Santelmann	...	Trond's father
Danica Curcic	...	Jon's mother
Pål Sverre Hagen	...	Jon's father
Gard B. Eidsvold	...	Franz
Jon Ranes	...	15-year-old Trond
Sjur Vatne Brean	...	17-year-old Jon
Torjus Hopland Vollan	...	10-year-old Lars
Tone Beate Mostraum	...	Trond's mother
Anders Baasmo Christiansen	...	Olav
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Thorbjørn Harr	...	Lean Man
Jonas Jörgensen	...	Ambulanssjukvårdare
Jurijs Krüze	...	German soldier
Maria Alm Norell	...	Ellen

Storyline

A grieving widower moves to the country where a chance encounter rekindles memories from his past.

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Plot Keywords:

father son relationship | year 1999 | 1940s | widower | flashback | 

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Genres:

Drama | Mystery

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Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

Norway Sweden Denmark

Language:

Norwegian Swedish

Release Date:

2020 (USA)

Also Known As:

Out Stealing Horses

Box Office

Budget:

EUR4,100,000 (estimated)

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$1,409,499

Company Credits

Production Co:

4 1/2 Film, 4 1/2 Fiksjon, Helgeland Film

Technical Specs

Runtime:

123 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Tobias Santelmann, Pål Sverre Hagen and Anders Baasmo Christiansen previously worked together on Kon-Tiki (2012), as Knut Haugland, Thor Heyerdahl, and Herman Watzinger respectively.

User Reviews

Visually attractive but I failed interest in what the main protagonists did

Saw this at the Berlinale 2019, where it was part of the official Competition for the golden bear. While not winning the 1st Prize, the jury awarded a Silver Bear for Outstanding Artistic Contribution, for Rasmus Videbæk who was responsible for the cinematography. Be that as it may, however, the movie failed to interest me in the protagonists and their behavior. Shots of landscapes, rivers, nature and (of course, given the title) the horses were more interesting than what the actors said and did. So, it could have been a nice watch but that is never my prime reason to see a movie.

In particular, the frequent switching between 1999 and 1948 annoyed me several times. It broke the logic flow in the story line. Luckily, it was clear with every flash back/forward in which time frame we were, due to other actors playing the younger variants. For me it remained unclear from start to finish what it was that the protagonists did tick, and why they did what they did. I cannot imagine that the fatal Cain/Abel scene, where a young boy inadvertently shot his brother, can have such a long term bearing on everyone actions, but what do I know??

Maybe the underlying book is better in explaining the psychology driving these people's actions, but I missed it dearly here. It is even very well possible that the Cain/Abel scene was not so important after all, but that it was the woman he had eyes on but who was in fact courted by his father. I wonder, due to suggestions in that direction in the announcement on the Berlinale website, but I can recall only a single scene from memory to more or less confirm this plot element.

All in all, despite the visual elements to make it a nice watch, I failed to get interested in the story or the psychology of the protagonists. I see hints in various reviews that there is more substance than I could derive from it. Such things can happen during a festival where one sees three of four movies per day.