Movie Review - Absurdist Comedies from Sweden

We all loved “Being There”, in which Peter Sellers played Chauncey, a gardener whose wealthy, life-long employer dies. Chauncey gets dressed in the old man’s Brooks Brother suit and hand-made shoes, then is mistaken for a gentleman and adopted by a ridiculously-powerful couple. He speaks in simple terms about gardening, and his every utterance is taken as profound wisdom told in metaphor. His modest self-reference is misunderstood, and he becomes “Mr. Gardiner”, mysteriously attractive. Other examples of this heroic version of absurdist comedy are “Forest Gump” or “Zelig”, in which the characters have a series of coincidental encounters with great historic figures at key points in time and place, with impactful results.

“The 100 Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared” is very much of this ilk. It’s really worth renting! It seems to start slow, sorta low-key as you’d expect from a relatively low-budget European film. Then the adsurdities start to add up. There’s no lull, as we review our titular hero’s past life as a demolition-obsessed witness to the Spanish Civil War, the invention of the atomic bomb, a Soviet gulag…. Oh, and a huge - if unintended - heist. Robert Gustafsson, the actor playing the lead,  gets Oscar-nominated makeup for his range of ages.
Highly recommended!

“The Sound of Noise” is more, shall I say, bizarre. Three percusionists and their femme fatale ringleader are guerilla music haters, and get more and more audacious in shutting down music and replacing it with beats, broadcast to ever-bigger audiences and terrorizing the city. The detective tasked with stopping this anarchy is tone-deaf, so he’s unaffected and uniquely-qualified. Family psychology, unlikely liasions and escalating tensions ensue. The drumming is wonderfully inventive, and the story totally unexpected, a rockin’ surprise.

Thanks to Dorina and Mark "Bubblemeister" Nichols for these recommendations! And, if you're around Middletown CA on Saturday, May 21, don'r miss the annual Taurus Party at their metal shop, with great live music by Ojolo (nee To Life). $10 donation. 21729 Hwy 29. 6:30pm- midnight. Outdoor/indoor.