Review: “A Man Called Ove” Offers A Funny Yet Heartwarming Story – Europe on Screen 2017
Europe on Screen 2017 has started from the 5th of May and the 17th edition of this festival is met with the high enthusiasm from movie lovers and public alike. Upon watching the programs offered during the festival, we were intrigued to watch the movies from Xtra category. In this section, the selected movies are Award winning films whether in Europe scene or in their own home countries. “A Man Called Ove” is said to be a light comedic story centered around an old man called Ove. It is a Swedish movie based on a novel of the same title written by Fredrik Backman in 2012. The film version was written and directed by Hannes Holm and it was released in 2015. It tells about a 59 year old man living alone in a neighborhood after his wife passed away. He visits her grave everyday and his solitude makes him a grumpy old man. Ove (played by Rolf Lassgård) is a discipline man and soon after, he is forced to retire from his company after reaching a certain age. Being jobless and without a company, it makes him more stressed out about his life. His life is not more than a blank and dank future to live on. Until he meets his neighbor across the street Parvaneh who is an Iranian woman who marries a Swedish man.
This family comically always arrive on time just when Ove tries to end his life in various ways. The growing relation between these odd pairings depicts the human life in such a light but heartwarming way. The director also pays homage to Swedish’ gorgeous natural landscape with his long shots. The movie also features flashback scenes that shows Ove’s childhood or younger past and we really enjoy how smooth the transition of the current and the old days’ scenes. Rolf put an excellent portrayal of a sullen old man who is lonesome and depressed. No wonder that this film has been nominated in two categories on 89th Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film and Best Makeup and Hairstyling. It also won two awards from Guldbagge Awards – A Swedish movie award in 2016. Catch this film on Europe on Screen on May 12th at GoetheHaus Jakarta. You sure do not want to miss this one! Check out other stunning movies being screened during EoS 2017 on their website.
Reviewer: Bonifasius Eiji/Editor: Novita Widia
