''Out of an Old Man's Head'' ( sv, I huvet på en gammal gubbe) is a 1968

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

adult film directed by

Per Åhlin Per Johan Axel Åhlin (born 7 August 1931) is a Swedish artist and director of animated films. He is known for his collaborations with the comedy duo Hasse & Tage and for his own projects such as the feature film '' The Journey to Melonia''. Ca ...

and

Tage Danielsson Tage Danielsson (; 5 February 1928 – 13 October 1985) was a Swedish author, actor, comedian, poet and film director. He is best known for his collaboration with Hans Alfredson in the comedy duo Hasse & Tage. Career After graduation from ...

, starring

Hans Alfredson Hans Folke "Hasse" Alfredson (28 June 1931 – 10 September 2017) was a Swedish actor, film director, writer, and comedian. He was born in Malmö, Sweden. He is known for his collaboration with Tage Danielsson as the duo Hasse & Tage and their p ...

as an old man remembering his past. Partly a

black comedy Black comedy, also known as dark comedy, morbid humor, or gallows humor, is a style of comedy that makes light of subject matter that is generally considered taboo, particularly subjects that are normally considered serious or painful to discu ...

, the film was released around the same time as the urban renewal of the Klara quarters in Stockholm, and could be seen as a comment both on the demolishing of the old buildings and on the

welfare state A welfare state is a form of government in which the state (or a well-established network of social institutions) protects and promotes the economic and social well-being of its citizens, based upon the principles of equal opportunity, equita ...

in general. Out of the total running time of 77 minutes, about 50 minutes are

animated Animation is a method by which still figures are manipulated to appear as moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Today, most ani ...

. It is considered to be the first Swedish animated feature film, although the first one that was fully animated was Agaton Sax and the Bykoebing Village Festival.

Plot

On the way home to the run-down shack he lives in with a can of dog food meant for himself, Johan Björk is accidentally covered by a pile of car tires thrown by a man who fails to notice him. His cries for help aren't perceived by anyone except one drunk, who is caught by the police when calling for assistance. Finally, at night, a young couple making love on the pile of tires notice him. They help him to get up and assist him to his home. He is hurt in the leg and understands that he can't take care of himself anymore, so he is put in a retirement home. At the home, Johan is sitting in a wheelchair staring out the window, mumbling for himself about his past to an animated flashback. Johan grew up on the countryside, when the grass was always green. His father was strong, his mother liked to bake. He was also harassed by a boy named Evert, while at the same time being in love with Evert's cute sister. At his confirmation, Evert tackled him so that all the girls' dresses were ruined by the

sacramental wine Sacramental wine, Communion wine, altar wine, or wine for consecration is wine obtained from grapes and intended for use in celebration of the Eucharist (also referred to as the Lord's Supper or Holy Communion, among other names). It is usually ...

. This made Evert's sister laugh at him, and with his heart broken he decided to run away to Stockholm. Johan started to work as a

masonry Masonry is the building of structures from individual units, which are often laid in and bound together by mortar; the term ''masonry'' can also refer to the units themselves. The common materials of masonry construction are bricks, building ...

, and carried bricks and bottles of beer to a foreman who consumed one bottle for ever brick he laid. In his loneliness, Johan fantasized about women, and made his first rousing visit to a brothel. He grew a moustache and visited an amusement park with two friends he had made, Sven and a man from

Värmland Värmland () also known as Wermeland, is a '' landskap'' (historical province) in west-central Sweden. It borders Västergötland, Dalsland, Dalarna, Västmanland, and Närke, and is bounded by Norway in the west. Latin name versions are '' ...

who he has a hard time remembering the name of. They flirted with girls, and everybody laughed when Johan failed at kicking a can in order to camouflage a fart. A nurse brings Johan back to reality to give him his medicine. Johan fantasizes about constructing a pyramid scheme that will give him thousands of whiskey bottles. He imagines a life of luxury in

Monte Carlo Monte Carlo (; ; french: Monte-Carlo , or colloquially ''Monte-Carl'' ; lij, Munte Carlu ; ) is officially an administrative area of the Principality of Monaco, specifically the ward of Monte Carlo/Spélugues, where the Monte Carlo Casino is ...

, where he is also being chased by gangsters. Once again Johan goes back to thinking about his past. He is struck by death angst while thinking of his dead parents. Johan also receives a letter from his son who ran away to America many years ago, since Johan wasn't a particularly successful father. The son is asking for money, while Johan is imagining what the American things mentioned in the letter might look like. Johan is thinking about the modern day. The blocks he was involved in building are being demolished to give room for modernistic city planning. He summarizes his failed life for himself: poverty ruined his relationship, his son ran away and the wife died. He befriends Sven, another man at the retirement home, and together they drink to make the memories fade.

Cast

as Johan Björk * Karl-Axel Forssberg as Sven Juhlin * Monica Ekman as Female student *

Gösta Ekman Hans Gösta Gustaf Ekman (; 28 July 1939 – 1 April 2017) was a Swedish actor, comedian, and director. Career Ekman was born in Stockholm, Sweden, and was the son of the director Hasse Ekman and Agneta (née Wrangel). Ekman represented ...

as Male student * Rolf Bengtsson as Drunk man * Fatima Ekman as Foreign lady * Nurse Ester as Herself * Nurse Alise as Herself *

as Car driver *

Ernst Günther Ernst Harry Ingemar Günther (3 June 1933 – 8 December 1999) was a Swedish actor. He appeared in 66 films and television shows between 1962 and 1999. He starred in the 1974 film ''Gangsterfilmen'', which entered into the 25th Berlin Inte ...

as Man throwing car tires

Production

The live-action scenes were shot on

Södermalm Södermalm, often shortened to just Söder, is a district and island in central Stockholm. Overview The district covers the large island of the same name (formerly called ''Åsön''). Although Södermalm usually is considered an island, wa ...

, Stockholm and at the retirement home Lundahemmet in Solna Municipality with many of the residents performing as themselves. The film was animated in

Malmö Malmö (, ; da, Malmø ) is the largest city in the Swedish county (län) of Scania (Skåne). It is the third-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm and Gothenburg, and the sixth-largest city in the Nordic region, with a municipal pop ...

from April 1967 to 5 October 1968 by Åhlin and four other animators.Press reaction and comment
at the Swedish Film Institute

Release

Released on 6 December 1968, the film was a success and made 1,270,971 SEK during the theatrical run in Sweden. It is yet to be released on home media.

References

External links

* {{Tage Danielsson 1968 comedy-drama films 1968 films Films directed by Per Åhlin Films directed by Tage Danielsson Films set in Stockholm Films with live action and animation Swedish animated films 1960s Swedish-language films Swedish comedy-drama films 1960s Swedish films