''The Slingshot'' ( sv, Kådisbellan) is a Swedish

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

which was released to cinemas in Sweden on 24 September 1993, starring

Jesper Salén Nils Jesper Alexander Salén (born 5 December 1978) is a Swedish physician and former actor. Filmography *''Om Stig Petrés hemlighet'' (TV) (2004) *'' Strandvaskaren'' (2004) *'' Ondskan'' (2003) *''Festival'' (2001) *''Naken'' (2000) *'' Vita l ...

, Stellan Skarsgård and Basia Frydman. Directed by

Åke Sandgren Åke Sandgren (born 13 May 1955) is a Sweden, Swedish-Denmark, Danish film director and screenwriter. He has written and directed a number of films in a variety of genres, mostly in Denmark where he now lives. Biography Sandgren studied Film Sc ...

, the film was based on

Roland Schütt Fritiof Roland Schütt (born 18 April 1913 in Stockholm, dead 10 November 2005 (aged 92) in Tyresö) was a Swedish author. He was son to Fritiof and Zipa Schütt and younger brother to the author Bertil Schütt. He has hosted Tyresö närradio to ...

's 1989 autobiographical novel of the same name (translates to ''"The Condom Slingshot"'').

Plot

Roland (Salén) is the 12-year-old son of a

Russian Jewish The history of the Jews in Russia and areas historically connected with it goes back at least 1,500 years. Jews in Russia have historically constituted a large religious and ethnic diaspora; the Russian Empire at one time hosted the largest pop ...

mother (Frydman) and a socialist father (Skarsgård), coming of age in 1920s

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

. Due to his family's background, he has become an outcast to those around him, a constant target of

bullying Bullying is the use of force, coercion, hurtful teasing or threat, to abuse, aggressively dominate or intimidate. The behavior is often repeated and habitual. One essential prerequisite is the perception (by the bully or by others) of an imba ...

by his peers, and often

humiliated Humiliation is the abasement of pride, which creates mortification or leads to a state of being humbled or reduced to lowliness or submission. It is an emotion felt by a person whose social status, either by force or willingly, has just dec ...

and physically punished by a sadistic schoolteacher (

Ernst-Hugo Järegård Ernst-Hugo Alfred Järegård (12 December 1928 – 6 September 1998) was a Swedish actor. Biography Järegård was born in Ystad. He received his acting training at Malmö City Theatre. From 1962 he was an actor in Sweden's prominent Royal Dra ...

) in front of classmates. In retaliation against his tormentors, Roland steals condoms from his mother's tobacco shop inventory and turns them into crude

slingshot A slingshot is a small hand-powered projectile weapon. The classic form consists of a Y-shaped frame, with two natural rubber strips or tubes attached to the upper two ends. The other ends of the strips lead back to a pocket that holds the pro ...

weapons. He also falls in love with a neighbourhood girl (

Frida Hallgren Frida Sophia Hallgren (born 16 December 1974) is a Swedish actress, internationally known from ''As It Is in Heaven''. She got her start in acting as a child in Hasse Funck's children's acting school and participated in Vår teater, a children ...

), but as Roland attempts to toughen up and improve his troubled life, he also allies with the wrong group of friends and inadvertently makes himself a

juvenile offender A young offender is a young person who has been convicted or cautioned for a criminal offense. Criminal justice systems often deal with young offenders differently from adult offenders, but different countries apply the term "young offender" ...

Shooting

Most outdoor scenes were shot in

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

as the Stockholm

townscape In the visual arts, a cityscape (urban landscape) is an artistic representation, such as a painting, drawing, print or photograph, of the physical aspects of a city or urban area. It is the urban equivalent of a landscape. ''Townscape'' is ...

at the time was considered to have undergone too many changes to depict the 1920s.

Cast

as Roland Schütt * Stellan Skarsgård as Fritiof Schütt * Basia Frydman as Zipa Schütt * Niklas Olund as Bertil Schütt *

as Teacher Lundin *

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 Principal *

Axel Düberg Axel Düberg (17 October 1927 – 6 October 2001) was a Swedish film actor. He was born and died in Stockholm, Sweden. Filmography References External links * * 1927 births 2001 deaths Swedish male film actors Male actors from ...

as Inspector Gissle *

Reine Brynolfsson Reine Claes-Göran Brynolfsson (born 15 January 1953) is a Swedish actor. He was born in Gothenburg Gothenburg (; abbreviated Gbg; sv, Göteborg ) is the second-largest city in Sweden, fifth-largest in the Nordic countries, and capita ...

as Hinke Berggren *

Heinz Hopf Heinz Hopf (19 November 1894 – 3 June 1971) was a German mathematician who worked on the fields of topology and geometry. Early life and education Hopf was born in Gräbschen, Germany (now , part of Wrocław, Poland), the son of Elizabeth ( ...

as Shoe salesman *

as Margit *

Tomas Norström Stig Tomas Norström (23 May 1956 – 3 October 2021) was a Swedish actor and film director. He also recorded audiobooks, among them J. R. R. Tolkien's works. Norström studied at the Swedish National Academy of Mime and Acting until 1981, tog ...

as Boxing Trainer * Ing-Marie Carlsson as Karin Adamsson *

Rolf Lassgård Rolf Holger Lassgård (born 29 March 1955) is a Swedish actor. He is known for his many roles in crime dramas. Life and career Lassgård was born in Östersund, Jämtland. A keen amateur ice hockey player in his youth, he also joined theatre tea ...

as Prisoner

Reception

The Danish-Swedish production has an 89% "fresh" rating on ''

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

''. ''

AllMovie AllMovie (previously All Movie Guide) is an online database with information about films, television programs, and screen actors. , AllMovie.com and the AllMovie consumer brand are owned by RhythmOne. History AllMovie was founded by popular-cult ...

'' critic Clarke Fountain called the film an "affectionate, richly detailed portrait", while film critic

James Berardinelli James Berardinelli (born September 25, 1967) is an American film critic and former engineer. His reviews are mainly published on his blog ''ReelViews.'' Approved as a critic by the aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, he has published two collections of r ...

gave the film three and a half out of four stars and called it "a wonderful mix of tragedy, humor, and triumph." Conversely, the ''

Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'' had an unfavorable view of the movie and called the story "a catalogue of catastrophes that surely left the real protagonist with many emotional scars." At the

29th Guldbagge Awards The 29th Guldbagge Awards ceremony, presented by the Swedish Film Institute, honored the best Swedish films of 1993, and took place on 31 October 1994. ''The Slingshot'' directed by Åke Sandgren was presented with the award for Best Film. Winn ...

the film won the award for

Best Film This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards. Best Actor/Best Actress *See Best Actor#Film awards, Best Actress#F ...

. Åke Sandgren was nominated for both

Best Director Best Director is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organizations, festivals, and people's awards. It may refer to: Film awards * AACTA Award for Best Direction * Academy Award for Best Director * BA ...

and

Best Screenplay Best or The Best may refer to: People * Best (surname), people with the surname Best * Best (footballer, born 1968), retired Portuguese footballer Companies and organizations * Best & Co., an 1879–1971 clothing chain * Best Lock Corporatio ...

, while Basia Frydman was nominated for Best Actress. The film was the Swedish submission to the 66th Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film, but did not make nomination.

Year-end lists

* Best "sleepers" (not ranked) – Dennis King, ''

Tulsa World The ''Tulsa World'' is the daily newspaper for the city of Tulsa, Oklahoma, and primary newspaper for the northeastern and eastern portions of Oklahoma. Tulsa World Media Company is part of Lee Enterprises. The new owners announced in January 202 ...

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Slingshot, The 1993 films 1993 drama films 1990s coming-of-age drama films Swedish coming-of-age drama films 1990s Swedish-language films Films based on Swedish novels Films about bullying Films about Jews and Judaism Films based on biographies Antisemitism in Sweden Swedish independent films Films set in the 1920s Films set in the 1930s Sony Pictures Classics films Films scored by Björn Isfält Best Film Guldbagge Award winners Films directed by Åke Sandgren Films set in Stockholm Films shot in Prague 1993 independent films 1990s Swedish films