''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 ...

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

Stellan Skarsgård Stellan Skarsgård (, ; born 13 June 1951) is a Swedish actor. He is known for his collaborations with director Lars von Trier appearing in ''Breaking the Waves'' (1996), ''Dancer in the Dark'' (2000), '' Dogville'' (2007), ''Melancholia'' (201 ...

and

Basia Frydman Basia Frydman (17 June 1946 – 21 August 2016) was a Swedish actress, engaged at the Royal Dramatic Theatre in Stockholm. She married Swedish actor Tomas Laustiola. She studied at the Swedish National Academy of Mime and Acting until 1972. A ...

. Directed by

Åke Sandgren Åke Sandgren (born 13 May 1955) is a Swedish- 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 Science and Phil ...

, the film was based on Roland Schütt's 1989

autobiographical novel An autobiographical novel is a form of novel using autofiction techniques, or the merging of autobiographical and fictive elements. The literary technique is distinguished from an autobiography or memoir by the stipulation of being fiction. Bec ...

of the same name (translates to ''"The Condom Slingshot"'').

Plot

Roland (Salén) is the 12-year-old son of a Russian Jewish mother (Frydman) and a socialist father (Skarsgård), coming of age in 1920s Stockholm. Due to his family's background, he has become an outcast to those around him, a constant target of bullying by his peers, and often humiliated and physically punished by a sadistic schoolteacher ( Ernst-Hugo Järegård) 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), 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 List of cities in the Czech Republic, largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 milli ...

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

Cast

* Jesper Salén as Roland Schütt *

as Fritiof Schütt *

as Zipa Schütt *

Niklas Olund Niklas is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Stare Miasto, within Konin County, Greater Poland Voivodeship, in west-central Poland. It lies approximately south of Stare Miasto, south of Konin, and east of the regional capit ...

as Bertil Schütt * Ernst-Hugo Järegård 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 as Inspector Gissle *

Reine Brynolfsson Reine Claes-Göran Brynolfsson (born 15 January 1953) is a Swedish actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern me ...

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 * Frida Hallgren as Margit * Tomas Norström as Boxing Trainer *

Ing-Marie Carlsson Ing-Marie Gunilla Jessica Carlsson (born 25 February 1957) is a Swedish actress. Carlsson lives in Södermalm, Stockholm. Carlsson was educated at NAMA in Gothenburg and graduated in 1982. After that she worked at Götateatern and the Borås ...

as Karin Adamsson * Rolf Lassgård 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'' 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 na ...

'' 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 and Best Screenplay, while

was nominated for

Best Actress Best Actress is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organisations, festivals, and people's awards to leading actresses in a film, television series, television film or play. The first Best Actress aw ...

. 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 20 ...

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