X
- 2015
- R
- Music Box Films
- 1 h 54 m
- 2015
- R
- Music Box Films
- 1 h 54 m
Summary After a long and colorful life working in munitions and getting entangled in the Spanish Civil War, the Manhattan Project, and other definitive events of the 20th century, Allan Karlsson finds himself stuck in a nursing home. Determined to escape on his 100th birthday, he leaps out of a window and onto the nearest bus, kicking off an un...
Directed By: Felix Herngren
Written By: Hans Ingemansson, Jonas Jonasson, Felix Herngren
- 2015
- R
- Music Box Films
- 1 h 54 m
- 2015
- R
- Music Box Films
- 1 h 54 m
The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared
58
6.7
Where to Watch
Summary After a long and colorful life working in munitions and getting entangled in the Spanish Civil War, the Manhattan Project, and other definitive events of the 20th century, Allan Karlsson finds himself stuck in a nursing home. Determined to escape on his 100th birthday, he leaps out of a window and onto the nearest bus, kicking off an un...
Directed By: Felix Herngren
Written By: Hans Ingemansson, Jonas Jonasson, Felix Herngren
Where to Watch
Top Cast
Metascore
Mixed or Average
Based on 15 Critic Reviews
58
47% Positive
7 Reviews
7 Reviews
53% Mixed
8 Reviews
8 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Metascore
Mixed or Average
Based on 15 Critic Reviews
58
47% Positive
7 Reviews
7 Reviews
53% Mixed
8 Reviews
8 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
The film genre that might be called Old People Behaving Hilariously gets an appealing new entry with The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared, a sometimes daffy, often droll Swedish movie.
There is a great deal of silliness about Allan's journey from start to finish and no real message other than to never stop taking life as it comes. But there is also a great deal of fun in watching a 100-year-old man climb out a window and disappear.
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 29 User Ratings
6.7
62% Positive
18 Ratings
18 Ratings
24% Mixed
7 Ratings
7 Ratings
14% Negative
4 Ratings
4 Ratings
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 29 User Ratings
6.7
62% Positive
18 Ratings
18 Ratings
24% Mixed
7 Ratings
7 Ratings
14% Negative
4 Ratings
4 Ratings
This is an adventure comedy film and it covers themes including escapes, memory loss and the cold war. Its based on a popular novel of the same name, written by Jonas Jonasson. This is quite a quirky film. It features some English language narration but narration and the odd scene aside, its primarily in Swedish and other European languages, so suffice to say there are quite a lot of subtitles present. I found the titular character quite endearing and respected that he decided to take things in to his own hands, to take back his independence and follow his nose, so to speak. Its a somewhat thoughtful film, with the main character philosophising about his past, about what he's learnt in life and where things have got him. It is quite funny at times and the comedy tends to be pretty black in tone.
The story, in terms of Allan's past, is interesting, with some aspects seeming rather unlikely but it makes for an intriguing watch regardless. I liked that it seemed a relatively original film - the characters are quite good fun.
Cast wise, Allan is played by Robert Gustafsson. I presume he to be a younger actor, as it looked quite a lot like he was wearing prosthetics of some sort to make him look like an elderly person - the face seemed somehow artificial but it didn't put me entirely off. Other cast members include Mia Skaringer as Gunilla, Georg Nikoloff as Popov and Jens Hulten as Gaddan.
The music played in the background of some scenes is quite cheery - jaunty even, accompanying mostly comedic scenes. Politics plays a role in this film, although it isn't by any means the primary theme of the film. I found myself thinking that Alan was perhaps somewhat like Forrest Gump, not in terms of suffering from a form of **** but in terms of his involvement in important, war related events over the years and the like.
Content wise, the film contains partial nudity, fairly isolated instances of violence (which I thought mostly appeared like comic violence) mainly via explosions and some strong language, although its primarily in Swedish (the main language spoken). There are also scenes depicting drunk people but otherwise there's nothing likely to upset, frighten or disiturb people. Due to this, the film has been given a 15 rating. I feel I really enjoyed this film - the tone of it and the variety of different characters. As I say, its definitely a quirky watch and its quite original - I admire that. I also appreciated the ocassional English narration and with nothing really obvious to criticise it for, apart from to warn of the heavy use/presence of subtitles, I'm happy to give this film a 5 star rating. I should perhaps also mention that I haven't read the novel that this film is based on, although I am aware of it and having seen the film, I can see why it was popular. Yes I'd recommend this film, as I found it quirky, somewhat original and with a good central character. It is funny in parts, although its very much a dark form of comedy but there are certainly comic elements to the plot. It does involve a lot of subtitles, which may put some people off but otherwise I'd recommend this.
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Really enjoyed this movie - yeah it doesn't have big budget or anything like that and it isn't your Hollywood movie. But it has a nice, fun story and many funny episodes and overall fun to watch. Reminded me a bit of Walter Mitty movie or something like that. Yes it is a bit slow in it's action but it isn't meant to be anything else so don't expect something from it what it isn't.
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Be forewarned: The 100-Year-Old Man is edgier than its title would lead you to believe. Bad guys are bludgeoned, blown up and even crushed by an elephant, and the two duffers take a lassez-faire attitude toward disposing of them.
The script never quite succeeds in making us care about Allan as a character (despite dubbing its quavering narration into English for the ease of American auds), but it finds an interesting balance for a personality who leaves a trail of disaster in his wake.
100-Year-Old sometimes feels like a rote biopic of a famous figure who never was, congratulating viewers on whatever recognition has rolled over from grade-school history class, then moving on to what comes next.
Whimsical, fantastical and self-consciously charming, it slinks around viewers’ ankles like an affectionate cat, purring ever more loudly until the audience can’t help but succumb.
The 100-Year-Old Man's equal-opportunity irreverence doesn't often translate to cleverness.
Es una película disfrutable; la trama es muy divertida y los actores son excelentes; es una comedia sueca muy entretenida.
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There’s nothing spectacular about this film, but, as a quirky Swedish film about a 100-year-old man and his shenanigans with a crazy biker gang, it gets the job done; with a funny script, great characters and a unique story in a film filled with personality and a surprisingly dark under layer. It may dwindle a little too much on confusing flashbacks and the fact that Allan (the 100-year-old) likes explosions with a story that may be a bit too mad for the sake of it; but it’s still a very entertaining watch and definitely worth a go if you’re on Netflix or Amazon Prime at least.
75/100.
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Picture a cross between "Forest Gump" and the absurdist humor of Monty Python, and you've got an idea what this quirky Swedish comedy is all about. The film admittedly goes on a little long (especially in the last 25 minutes), but its off-the-wall, raucously funny humor never ceases to entertain, provided one is into that sort of thing. If you'd like to see "Mr. Peabody's Improbable History" on steroids, then don't miss this strangely wonderful release.
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While watching “The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out The Window And Disappeared” (hereafter called 100!) I would flash on to Peter Sellers in “Being There” and Tom Hanks in “Forrest Gump” more so the latter due to Robert Gustafsson’s performance as a man, Allan, who meets famous people in history and sometimes changes the course of that history.
The flashbacks to Allan’s earlier years, and his love of pyrotechnics at times, plays with your head and makes you lose track now and then though this movie doesn’t go as deep as the other two but we join him on his adventures after climbing out that window stumbling on a suitcase of money, rescues a elephant and wanting to live and see 101!
The biggest problem I had with the film was that it seemed to have been written by at least a dozen writers and had a feeling that ‘too many cooks spoil the broth’ so much to my surprise I see it was written only by the director, Felix Hemgren, who also directed, and Hans Ingemansson based on a best selling Swedish novel by Jonas Jonasson. There are 6 different languages used and characters come and go without explanation. One minute it is a comedy and the next it seems to be reaching for farce while a lot of slapstick is thrown in but it doesn’t quite gel. A lot of the humor fell flat for me though there was a guy in the audience was laughing constantly.
The cast is led by Robert Gustafsson who doesn’t seem to make the role he plays, that of Allan Karlsson, likeable and for a guy who blows up people, gets sterilized because he ‘must have some Negro blood due to the size of his ****’, kills people and walks away as if nothing happened, that likeability is missing. Allan goes through life seemingly not aware of all the chaos he creates around him and for other people.
I’m not quite sure who played who but I believe as his partner in crime Iwar Wiklander seemed more solid than Gustaffson while Mia Skaringer as Gunilla exchanged some sharp dialogue with a few of the men particularly a ‘suitor’ who is ‘almost’ everything.
While Allen liked this film a lot more than I did I am inclined to put it on my 2015 ‘worst’ list.
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Production Company
NICE FLX Pictures,
FLX,
Nice Drama,
FLX Comedy AB,
Buena Vista International (Sweden),
Buena Vista International,
Elmalma Marka Iletisim,
Embassy Films,
Film i Väst,
Film i Västerbotten,
Nordisk Film & TV-Fond,
Nordsvensk Filmunderhållning,
Svenska Filminstitutet (SFI),
TV4
Release Date May 8, 2015
Duration 1 h 54 m
Rating R
Tagline Things are what they are, and whatever will be will be.
Awards
Academy Awards, USA
• 1 Nomination
Guldbagge Awards
• 2 Wins & 5 Nominations
Chicago International Film Festival
• 2 Wins & 2 Nominations
