A Swedish schoolgirl has been killed, and she's just good looking enough to make people care. Who is the culprit? Nobody knows. Could it be the local dodgy geezer? Quite possibly, but also possibly not. Whatever the case, the authorities are convinced of his guilt.Can Detective Erik Bäckström reach the truth of this mystery before the police send an innocent man to prison? Will Niklas finally give up his obsession? Who cleaned out the hunting cottage of the local police chief? Why is Torsten such a dick?I rate Jägarna II at 26.64 on the Haglee Scale, which works out as a chilling 8/10 on IMDB.
... View MoreThis Swedish detective mystery is a film which is a sequel to a 90's movie I haven't actually seen, so I can't say how this one measures up against the original. Nevertheless, what can be said with certainty is this is another Scandinavian film which falls comfortably under the Nordic noir bracket. Like other north European thrillers, this one covers some dark and disturbing territory. A Stockholm police detective is sent to a small rural community to help solve the case of a missing girl, presumed murdered. He finds his more methodical methods at odds with the style of the lead police officer assigned to the case, a man who happens to be married to his widowed sister-in-law and who is now the father to his nephew.This is another solid bit of Nordic noir, yet I would classify it as a lesser example of the sub-genre. While it is undoubtedly a compelling enough crime story, the resolution to the mystery isn't perhaps very surprising and revealed quite early at that. This is compounded further by the film being a little overlong at two hours plus, given its quite basic and relatively straightforward narrative, while the final confrontation sequence was a bit too much in standard thriller territory and felt like a bit of a let-down for me. I did think the acting was very good though and the sense of place a strong point typical for these types of features. I could just have done with a little more meat to the mystery. Still, my criticisms are still only relative to the generally high quality of recent Scandinavian crime films overall, as this remains a pretty solid mystery-thriller nevertheless. Aside from the crime story, there are family and city versus small town complications added to the mix and which do expand the drama. Overall, I would classify this as a good film as opposed to being a great one though.
... View MoreThere's been 15 years since the first "Jegerne" ("The Hunters), and it's very understandable that there was to be a follow up many years later. This is the finest of thrillers made by the Swedes. Kjell Sundvall has directed both, and that's probably why both th first and the second is almost equally good. The story is different, of course, but the feel and the tension is the same. The film never slips when it comes to make a tense feeling.This is the most true of sequels. We meet the same people 15 years later, where a policeman's family was involved in a murder. All these years later he is ordered back, after a young girl has gone missing.Both films is kept in the same tone. This is brilliantly done. It makes a kind of rural tension. Somewhere where bans between village people are so tight that no one dares speak up. We're in the rural North of Sweden, where hunting is an everyday event. The film depicts the nature and landscape in a beautiful way, and weaves this into the story.We feel the tension all along, and this tension is what makes the films such a treat. The actors are great, where both Rolf Lassgård and Peter Stormare are as good here as in the first. Fine actors. The first film was never forgotten. Not even outside of Sweden. That's why many also was drawn to this continuation many years later. It could've all gone wrong, this follow up. It doesn't, due to fine script writing, great acting, good instruction as well as the Swedish nature.
... View MoreThe Interrogator Erik Backstrom (Rolf Lassgård) is forced to return to his former home village to solve a murder mystery, in which the local polices and some hunters and even Erik's family seems to be involved. Soon, the conflicts are in full action, especially between Erik and the local police Torsten (Peter Stormare). Torsten does not support Erik very much in his job and has, for some personal reasons, already arrested a suspected perpetrator. Eric takes great risks when he starts digging in the criminal material of the horrible murder case.Director Kjell Sundin was right when he, after some hesitation, decided to make a successor of Jägarna (The Hunters). There are some flashbacks in the second film, but it doesn't matter. The second film stands on its own and the drama has got its own story with all the ingredients for a strong thriller and with star actors performing convincingly in the spectacular northern landscape of Sweden. The movie is filmed in the small place Överkalix and its surroundings.Peter Stormare makes an impressing role portrait of the psychopathic policeman Torsten. With small and powerful expressions he excellently performs the complex character. Stormare is a brilliant and talented actor, who can turn stereotypes into great art. Rolf Lassgård is an experienced actor and convincing as the homicide detective, but sometimes falls into manners in his attempts to make the rather flat role more interesting. Annika Nordin as Torsten's betrayed wife Karin is, however, too sophisticated and beautiful for the part. Eero Milonoff performs with force the rough drinker Jari, that with his friend Esa (Juho Milonoff) are the social problems of the village. The film photo by Jallo Faber is beautiful, even if the sharpness could have been better. But he captures the expressions of the actors very well and seduces us with the grandiose views of the landscape. The writers Bjorn Carlstrom and Stefan Thunberg have created a strong story with an excellent and realistic dialog.Unfortunately this exciting down-to-earth drama turns into a melodramatic operatic final that does not give the movie full points, even if the story maybe couldn't end in another way. And the closing scenes with the well-polished victims along with Erik in an idyllic winter landscape, feels too heavenly. The consequences of the violent drama should have left some traces with the victims, who actually got life-threatening damages in the film.But Jägarna 2 (The Hunters 2) got eight out 10, for an exciting movie with talented actors and filmmakers of which Sweden has many reasons to be proud.
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