THE MAN FROM MAJORCA
Sweden, 1984, 106 minutes, Colour.
Sven Wollter, Tomas von Bromssen.
Directed by Bo Widerberg.
The Man From Majorca is a police thriller mystery from a novel by Haj Sjowall and Per Vabloo, the authors of The Laughing Policeman (filmed in the early '70s by Stuart Rosenberg with Walter Matthau and Bruce Dern) and Man on the Roof, filmed by Bo Widerberg in the late '70s. Widerberg directs this film.
It is a good police thriller with the authentic atmosphere of the Swedish city. The film shows the police team as a pair of ordinary men trying to make the most of their investigation and with the light human touch. The film has humorous echoes of the '80s and allusions to films.
The film also has comment on police corruption, cover-ups, ministerial blackmail, especially evident in the final sequences of the film. A satisfying thriller.
1. Audience enjoyment of police thrillers? Crime mysteries? The ironic points about police corruption? Political points? A Swedish version of these themes?
2. The use of locations, the Swedish city, the streets, the precinct, homes, the bank? The musical score? editing and pace?
3. The title and the irony of the photo? The reference to Hedberg?
4. The opening with the robbery, its execution, the skills of the robbers and the atmosphere of the 13th of December, St Lucy's feast day? The pace of the robbery? The teller giving the alarm? The characters in the bank? The arrival of the police? The chase? The beginnings of the investigation?
5. The policemen and their working together, surveillance on the brothel, noticing the persons going in and out, the comment on the prostitute, on the policeman and their, talking with him in the classroom? The murders? The discussions with the investigator? The clues, interrogations, the prisoner being taken back to prison, the drug dealer? The old man murdered and his photo of the group at Majorca? The clashes with officials? The pursuit of Hedberg? The background banter, their own personal lives, ironic comments about boycotting McDonald's and multinationals? Their solving of the mystery? The cover-up and their thinking that they were wrong? Portrait of policemen, their work, working together?
6. The man who was in the bank, at the robbery, his knowledge of Hedberg? the photo, his being killed? The young drug-dealer and his death? The car chase, the owner of the car, the cover-ups? The police investigator and his interviewing people?
7. Hedberg and his place in the police, surveillance, relationship with the Attorney General, the alibis, the holes in the alibis, the relationship with the prostitute, the buying of the dog leash? The cover-up?
8. The gallery of characters, suspects, members of the police force?
9. The resolution, the irony of the budget, the minister and the Attorney General, Hedherg and his role, funds being given to counter-terrorist police forces and their training, Hedberg leading the group?
10. The pace and action of the police thriller, investigation and the clues, personal involvement, political theories and the comment on contemporary society?
