Strictly ballroom, in Swedish
House of Angels
Directed by Colin Nutley
Starring Helena Bergstrom and Rikard Wolff
Reviewed by Wayne Ruscoe
English director Colin Nutley's third Swedish-based film has had the kind of runaway success in that country that Strictly Ballroom enjoys here. Both films also share light, whimsical plots and the freshness of actors who are clearly enjoying themselves.
The story in House of Angels is engagingly simple. In a small, conservative village an old man dies. The locals believe that, as he has no surviving relatives, his house ("anglegard") and substantial private forest will be sold at public auction. His neighbour, the richest man in the district, Alex Flogfalt, is already chuckling over the money he will make felling the forest as its new owner when two strangers arrive on a Harley Davidson.
The dead man's granddaughter has come to take her inheritance, and the town reels under the impact of the new residents, whose dress, manners and attitude are alien to the somber, sheltered locals.
A clash is inevitable.
Despite a hum of potential violence in the background, this is really a charming and witty film, full of the joys of a northern summer and the tranquillity of a modern rural lifestyle. The pace is unhurried; the only cars in the village belong to three men: the farmer, the lawyer and the preacher. All three are, in various degrees, corrupted by the need to fit in with their neighbours, and by film's end all have had the chance to redeem themselves.
Likewise the women of the area, apparently content to be housewives, girlfriends and champion knitters, are challenged by the presence of a woman who wants to be none of these things. Oh, and the house, grounds and forest are beautiful too. No way I'd be selling up and moving on!
Director Nutley is well served by a cast of talented actors who have no difficulty bringing the characters to life. Perhaps they were encouraged by the director's use of a screenplay that contained no dialogue, just plot and shooting directions. Most actors would kill for the chance to allow so much of their own inventiveness and spontaneity to influence a film. [Season starts December 4 at the Academy Twin and Walker Theatre, Sydney. Check local papers for seasons in other cities.]