Hannes Holm A Man Called Ove

Hannes Holm A Man Called Ove

Cast: Rolf Lassgård, Bahar Pars, Zozan Akgün
Director: Hannes Holm
Rated: PG
Running Time: 116 minutes

Synopsis: Stepping from the pages of Fredrik Backman's international best-selling novel, Ove is the quintessential angry old man next door. An isolated retiree with strict principles and a short fuse, who spends his days enforcing block association rules that only he cares about, and visiting his wife's grave, Ove has given up on life.

Enter a boisterous young family next door who accidentally flatten Ove's mailbox while moving in and subsequently earn his special brand of ire. Yet from this inauspicious beginning, an unlikely friendship forms and we come to understand Ove's past happiness and heartbreaks. What emerges is a heartwarming tale of unreliable first impressions and the gentle reminder that life is sweeter when it's shared.

One of Sweden's biggest locally-produced box office hits ever, director Hannes Holm finds the beating heart of his source material and Swedish star Rolf Lassgård, whose performance won him the Best Actor award at the 2016 Seattle International Film Festival, affectingly embodies the lovable curmudgeon Ove.

A Man Called Ove
Release Date: March 30th, 2017
Trailer

Director's Statement

In the beginning, I think it was a matter of pure stupidity that I got into this project. The Swedish novel "A Man Called Ove" was a bestseller, praised by critics, loved by the readers and internationally acclaimed. It didn't take me long to realize the gigantic risk of making a spectacular failure, but on the other hand I quickly accepted the offer of adapting this masterpiece to the big screen. How could that be possible?

Honestly it was because of two things, I really loved the novel and I was too stupid to say no. So I had to forget all about the prospect of failing, and get to work.

Now I was supposed to manage another person's story: the author Fredrik Backman. As a writer and director, I'm used to shooting my own stories. To write a story for the screen has never been too difficult for me, but this time it was harder, because I had to consider what the author would think of what I had done. My task as a director is to, like a thief, steal the story out of the book and make a film of it. I think many failures in creating a film adaptation of a popular book occur when directors keep the book in mind too far into the production. Just read it, take out the story and then forget about the book. Instead, the story must become mine, the rest of the crew and the actors. So when I began shooting, after I had read it one hundred more times than anyone will ever do, I set it aside to focus on the production.

The success of 'A Man Called Ove" is in how personal the story is. The more personal we dare to be, the more interest and response you will get all over the world. In the end, everybody recognizes his or her self in the story, and I'm convinced that in some way you will find an Ove within your own life. This film is about Ove's story and nobody else's. Ove is the stubborn old man everybody knows, but is also quite a unique person. I'm happy I was so stupid to accept the offer to make this film and it will always remind me of the importance of being a bit crazy – because sometimes a little bit stupidity can make you a great bit wiser!

A Man Called Ove
Release Date: March 30th, 2017