HOUSE OF ANGELS
(ANGLAGAARD)
A film review by Scott Renshaw
Copyright 1993 Scott Renshaw
In Swedish, with English subtitles Starring: Helena Bergstrom, Rikard Wolff, Sven Wolter. Screenplay/Director: Colin Nutley.
When I think of Swedish films, comedy does not exactly spring to mind. The central figure is of course Ingmar Bergman, whose imagistic and introspective works have given me a somewhat grim picture of Swedish cinema, and of Sweden in general. Now it appears that I must change my perception. The impetus for that change is HOUSE OF ANGELS, a bright and lively comedy that takes on moral hypocrisy and provincialism with delightful results.
HOUSE OF ANGELS is set in a small Swedish farming village where Erik Zander (Per Oscarsson), a reclusive landowner, has just passed away. Among the many citizens less than devastated by his passing is Axel Flogfalt (Sven Wolter), a wealthy mill owner who covets the timber on Erik's land. He believes Erik has died without an heir, and that he will be able to obtain the land when it goes up for public auction. Enter Fanny (Helena Bergstrom), who arrives on a motorcycle with leather-clad companion Zac (Rikard Wolff) and shocks the community by announcing that she's Erik's granddaughter. Fanny and Zac, flamboyant Berlin cabaret performers, then take up residence on the Zander farm, Anglagaard, much to the consternation of the town's stuffy populace.
Writer/director Colin Nutley does a fantastic job of establishing the hidden peccadillos of the town's citizens. Before Erik's death, a ghoulish Axel tells his son that he looks forward to the benefit he stands to gain from the event. Axel's nephew Per-Ove, who runs the town grocery store, sits in the back room watching American porno films between customers; his stock girl Eva is carrying on a roadside affair with Axel's rakish son Morten. The framework of these little sins makes their response to Fanny's open sexuality and exuberance all the more laughable. Axel's uptight wife Ruth assumes that Zac must be a drug user because of his appearance, and that the interlopers from the big city will ruin their wholesome community. Nutley crafts a tale about a particular intolerance which transcends the particular and addresses the universal foolishness of such narrow-mindedness.
The film is at its best when it deals with the direct interactions between Fanny and the town's citizens. She slowly begins to win over the more even-tempered folk, including the young priest Father Henning and two shy elderly brothers. The latter in particular is a hilarious scene, as Fanny and Zac try to explain to the two perplexed men the exact nature of their sometimes bawdy performances. There is also an intense but comic confrontation between Fanny and Ruth, where the threatened matron ticks off the terrible vices Fanny will perpetrate on the small town ("I've seen it all on TV!" she cries). HOUSE OF ANGELS is full of such scenes, and most of them sparkle. Make special note of the wonderful montage following Fanny's decision to give the town gossips something *really* worth gossipping about.
HOUSE OF ANGELS certainly isn't a perfect film. Bergstrom is lovely as Fanny, but she's not quite as fully developed a character as she could be, especially concerning why she's so eager to stay at Anglagaard. The film also suffers from some choppy editing in the final half hour, and singularly unimpressive translations in some of the subtitles. However, none of this should keep you away from HOUSE OF ANGELS. The photography of the Swedish countryside is beautiful, and the interiors are almost as impressive. It's also a film with a fantastic ensemble cast; there truly is not a bad performance to be found. The most memorable for me: Reine Brynolfsson as the introverted Gottfrid, whom Fanny draws out of his shell into a warm friendship.
HOUSE OF ANGELS was an Academy Award nominee for Best Foreign Language Film last year, and it appears to have been a richly deserved honor. It's reminiscent of Bill Forsyth's LOCAL HERO, with a slight moralist twist. It could take some searching to find it near you, but it will be well worth the effort.
On the Renshaw scale of 0 to 10 rounds of "Auld Lang Syne" (you'll have to see it to understand): 9.
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