It's rare to see a serious Swedish war movie, in part due to the lack modern time battles involving the country. In the second world war the country was officially neutral cornered by conflict on all sides. This movie is about a few Swedish soldiers protecting the border against Nazi occupied Norway. A local major decides to be a bit proactive before the, as he sees it, the inevitable German invasion and sends his border patrol in to Norwegian territory for recognizance and sabotage. The major's main guy is lieutenant Stenström who performs well. But when Stenström's brother carelessly crosses the border and gets captured by the sadistic Nazi captain, it gets personal. Stenström recruits his friend Järvinen, a veteran and legend from the Finnish Winter War, and goes deep into enemy territory to free his brother.
I rarely like Swedish movies. Mainly it is because they always seem to aim at being everything, covering every genre, and doing too much with limited resources. But Gränsen is different. It is satisfied with being a war movie, and for its purpose, the resources is covering it well. Actually I am surprised with the approach to action and fighting. It is far too easy to overdo it, but Gränsen balances it very nice (even though there are some questions). There is no humongous battles, or Rambo-like gun fights, but it feels much more realistic and plausible with fighting on a much smaller scale.
The story is good as well, even though at two hours it is stretching the material pretty thin. Some scenes or subplots that aren't followed up later, or helps the main plot much, should have been cut. Some of the dialog is a little stiff and a few characters a little annoying. None the less, I liked it. Every movie (with extremely rare exceptions) have faults, and Gränsens' is rather minor. They are easy to forgive.
Gränsen is a good, entertaining war movie. It was much better than I expected, especially considering the lack of experience doing movies like this in Sweden. If you like a good war movie, you might want to check this out.
7/10
I rarely like Swedish movies. Mainly it is because they always seem to aim at being everything, covering every genre, and doing too much with limited resources. But Gränsen is different. It is satisfied with being a war movie, and for its purpose, the resources is covering it well. Actually I am surprised with the approach to action and fighting. It is far too easy to overdo it, but Gränsen balances it very nice (even though there are some questions). There is no humongous battles, or Rambo-like gun fights, but it feels much more realistic and plausible with fighting on a much smaller scale.
The story is good as well, even though at two hours it is stretching the material pretty thin. Some scenes or subplots that aren't followed up later, or helps the main plot much, should have been cut. Some of the dialog is a little stiff and a few characters a little annoying. None the less, I liked it. Every movie (with extremely rare exceptions) have faults, and Gränsens' is rather minor. They are easy to forgive.
Gränsen is a good, entertaining war movie. It was much better than I expected, especially considering the lack of experience doing movies like this in Sweden. If you like a good war movie, you might want to check this out.
7/10
