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Jack Hildén in Aftonbladet already loathes the new film adaptation of Hjalmar Söderberg’s classic “Doktor Glass”, which hits cinemas on Friday. He didn’t see it, but still. Why? Especially because he saw in the trailer that the guys playing the male leads (Isac Calmroth and Christian Fandango) are too good at it. In addition, guys who partly wrote the script promoted the film on… Amen oh my God… Tiktok!
Because really While Hildén underlines the thesis that it is almost a breach of majesty to make a moving picture of “Doctor Glass”, modernize it and try to attract a younger audience to the cinemas, he invokes the old idea that the art of the novel always surpasses the film. He also knows that “Doktor Glas” is bad because Swedish films in general have been so bad for a long time, especially on the “porn film” level when it comes to dialogue. Norway, Denmark, even Iceland and even the Faroe Islands have been making better films for a long time.
All of this is based on a movie he hasn’t seen.
Here, too, the quality is not the interesting thing. However, I know it’s a joke to see films you haven’t seen yet
Me neither was able to see “Doctor Glass” (premiere on Friday). I don’t know if it’s for me. Probably not. Here, too, the quality is not the interesting thing. However, I know it’s a joke to see films you haven’t seen yet. And I also know that the comparisons with our Nordic neighbors are starting to get confusing. Yes, things are going really well for Norway, especially for director Joachim Trier’s nine-time Oscar-nominated film “Sentimental Value.” Oil money is generally well spent. Both Norwegian feature films and Norwegian television series are also well represented internationally.
The Finns Many domestic films watch, in 2025 seven out of ten films at the top of cinemas were Finnish. The corresponding figures in Sweden were depressingly zero. Danish films also attract Danish audiences much more than Swedish films attract Swedish audiences, but they are far from the same appeal at the big A festivals such as the Lars von Trier and Thomas Vinterberg festivals.
Swedish film may not be doing so well at the moment. But even this knee-deep level of debate is not a sign of health
Yes, Swedish film currently has a shockingly low market share in Sweden of just 10 percent and a worrying lack of ideas when it comes to attracting the mainstream cinema audience (except for children’s and family films, which, on the positive side, instill cinematic habits in children). But also, not to forget, record low state funding in the Nordic context – and a culture minister who behaves like a naughty child towards large parts of the Swedish film world and would rather send a PM because she is going to the Netflix premiere (“The Last Link”).
But don’t forget that Sweden was like Norway four years ago – at least almost. Three Swedish directors took part in the competition in Cannes. A second Golden Palm – film history! – to Ruben Östlund for “Triangle of Sadness,” which was also nominated three times for an Oscar in 2024. That same year, Tarik Saleh’s masterful “Boy from heaven” won the screenplay prize at Cannes. The goldfish memory also applies to “The Last Voyage” by Filip and Fredrik, which only two years ago attracted over 400,000 cinemagoers, a film that managed to be loved by audiences and praised by critics.
Swedish film may not be doing so well at the moment. But even this knee-deep level of debate is not a sign of health.
Read more:
Here are the Swedish film premieres of the spring: “We kill the book ‘Doktor Glas'”
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