Storm (2005)

User Rating:

5.9/10   

Directors:

Måns Mårlind
Björn Stein

Writer:

Måns Mårlind (writer)

Release Date:

20 January 2006 (Sweden)

Genre:

Drama | Fantasy | Thriller

Tagline:

You may have forgotten your past, but it hasn't forgotten you...

Plot:

DD is a smug fellow, almost 30 years of age, who can manage all by himself. At least that's what he thinks...

Awards:

2 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Eric Ericson	...	Donny 'DD' Davidson
Eva Röse	...	Lova
Jonas Karlsson	...	The man in suit
Lina Englund	...	The Assistant
Peter Engman	...	Cabbie
Karl Norrhäll	...	Jeppon (as Karl Norhäll)
Jacqueline Ramel	...	Malin
Matias Padin	...	Knugen (as Matias Padin Varela)
Joel Kinnaman	...	Bartender
Per Ragnar	...	Vakthavande
Sasha Becker	...	Helena
Adam Lundgren	...	DD
Oscar Åkermo	...	DD - liten
Christian Rinmad	...	Ronny (as Christian Hollbrink)
Niclas Larsson	...	Ronny, liten

Runtime:

110 min

Country:

Sweden

Language:

Swedish

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Certification:

Sweden:15 | Australia:MA | Germany:16 | Finland:K-15

Filming Locations:

Elmia, Jönköping, Jönköpings län, Sweden

Company:

Breidablick Film AB

Trivia:

The scene in which DD enters a huge room full of computers, and talks to a guy who plays a computer game called "Storm", was shot in November 2004 on the world's largest computer festival, "Dreamhack", arranged every year in Sweden with over 6000 participants. Director Björn Stein thought that the festival would act as a cool and spectacular environment that would fit perfectly into the film.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: When searching on Google for the words found on the matchbox he received from Lova, DD gets a single hit. This link is marked in purple, indicating that he had already visited it.

Movie Connections:

References Phantasm II (1988)

Very surprising and versatile, as well as enjoyable

The movie opens with a Matrix-style fighting scene which makes me fear that this is yet another Swedish action movie that tries to do more than its budget allows. But after that follows a few quite humorous scenes in which we are introduced to DD - a twenty-something guy who lives a bachelor life in a dark dystopian Stockholm and is content with that; until some very strange people come around, and everything that happens seems to be about him in some way.

At first, the viewer is tempted to try and figure out what is dream and what is reality. But you just have to stop trying. The entire movie is surreal. It turns into a twisted mind game in which DD is the involuntary player and Eva Röse and Jonas Karlsson plays characters that try to guide him in different directions, where Lova (Röse) is apparent as the good one, even though everything gets very confusing. In a few sequences, the two are even shown as characters from computer games and comic books.

DD ends up in the small town of Vänersborg where he grew up, and in the desolate fog-shrouded surroundings he is forced to face teenage memories in a couple of very unpleasant scenes.

This is one of the most unpredictable movies I've ever seen. There is just no way of telling where the story is going, except for the fact that DD must open the mysterious metal box he's been given.

The cinematography reminds me very much of The Matrix trilogy, but the directors have experimented a lot and that makes the movie very enjoyable from an aesthetic point of view. Other sources of inspiration seems to have been "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" and "The Game". Anyway, the mix of ideas works into a very strange film in which the directors have made the very most of their budget (except for a few times when they use some really old horror-movie effects). The crazy sci-fi-thriller-action-drama-horror-circus leads on to a very touching finale in which some of the many loose ends are tied up.

I liked this movie a lot. And even though it's far from perfect, it is a very fresh new creation in Swedish film when it certainly is needed.