''The Slingshot'' () 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. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...

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) *''Evil (2003 film), Ondskan'' (2003) *''Festival (2001 film), Festival ...

Stellan Skarsgård Stellan John 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'' (2003), ''Melancholia' ...

and Basia Frydman. Directed by Åke Sandgren, the film was based on Roland Schütt's 1989

autobiographical novel An autobiographical novel, also known as an autobiographical fiction, fictional autobiography, or autobiographical fiction novel, is a type of novel which uses autofiction techniques, or the merging of autobiographical and fictive elements. The ...

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 Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

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

bullying Bullying is the use of force, coercion, Suffering, hurtful teasing, comments, or threats, in order to abuse, aggression, aggressively wikt:domination, dominate, or intimidate one or more others. The behavior is often repeated and habitual. On ...

by his peers, and often humiliated 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 ...

) 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 or catapult is a small hand-powered projectile weapon. The classic form consists of a Y-shaped frame, with two tubes or strips made from either a natural rubber or synthetic elastic material. These are attached to the upper two ends ...

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.

Shooting

Most outdoor scenes were shot in

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

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

Cast

as Roland Schütt *

as Fritiof Schütt * Basia Frydman as Zipa Schütt * Niklas Olund as Bertil Schütt *

as Teacher Lundin * Ernst Günther 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 S ...

as Inspector Gissle * Reine Brynolfsson as Hinke Berggren *

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

as Shoe salesman * Frida Hallgren as Margit * Tomas Norström 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

Critical response

''The Slingshot'' has an approval rating of 89% on

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website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, 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 ...

, based on 9 reviews, and an average rating of 6.9/10. ''

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

'' 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. His reviews are mainly published on his blog ''ReelViews.'' Approved as a critic by the aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, he has published two collections of reviews of movies on ...

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'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

'' 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."

Awards and nominations

At the 29th Guldbagge Awards the film won the award for Best Film. Åke Sandgren was nominated for both Best Director and Best Screenplay, 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 an American daily newspaper. It serves the city of Tulsa, Oklahoma, and is the primary newspaper for the northeastern and eastern portions of Oklahoma. The printed edition is the second-most circulated newspaper in the sta ...

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 Biographical films about Jewish people 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