7.1 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.0 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
The unlikely story of a 100-year-old man who decides it's not too late to start over. For most people it would be the adventure of a lifetime, but Allan Karlsson's unexpected journey is not his first. For a century he's made the world uncertain, and now he is on the loose again.
Starring: Robert Gustafsson (I), Iwar Wiklander, David Wiberg, Mia Skäringer, Jens HulténForeign | 100% |
Drama | Insignificant |
Comedy | Insignificant |
Adventure | Insignificant |
Action | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.39:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
Swedish: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
English, English SDH
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (B, C untested)
Movie | 3.0 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 4.5 | |
Extras | 3.0 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
If Forrest Gump had had a somewhat older Swedish cousin, chances are he might have looked a lot like Allan Karlsson (Robert Gustafsson), the newly minted centenarian whose life story forms the basis of the whimsical but surprisingly dark at times The 100 Year Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared. Forrest of course found himself at the center of an improbable number of high profile historical events, kind of like an unwitting witness stumbling through a sequence of epochal incidents without much overall awareness of their importance. Something somewhat similar happens to Allan, though in Felix Herngren’s cinematic adaptation of a best selling Swedish novel by Jonas Jonasson, structural artifices tend to keep the viewer just slightly off kilter at times, making this less of a “who will Allan meet next?” enterprise than surface descriptions might suggest. The film artfully ping pongs back and forth between Allan’s present day travails, which find the elderly gentleman more or less escaping from a retirement home only to find himself ensconced in an unfortunate series of events involving a rather large suitcase full of illicitly gained cash, and a series of flashbacks which slowly but surely detail a completely remarkable life filled with seemingly coincidental interchanges with a who’s who of iconic historical figures. A little more tart feeling than Forrest Gump due to some of the actually shocking vagaries of Allan’s fate, The 100 Year Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared was a gargantuan success in its homeland, nearly eclipsing the box office records set by The Dragon Tattoo Trilogy - Extended Edition.
The Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Music Box Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.39:1. The IMDb lists the Arri Alexa as having been utilized for the shoot, and the film offers a typically sharp, well detailed but fairly smooth looking appearance that pops most convincingly in the brightly lit outdoor sequences (which are numerous). Various moments have been graded, often in buttery yellows or occasionally cooler blues, and a minimal amount of detail is lost in these sequences. Some of the CGI and/or green screen work is surprisingly soft and even shoddy looking, one of the few outright disappointments the film has to offer from a visual standpoint. Close-ups offer abundant fine detail, including nice looks at the outstanding makeup Gustafsson wears for his old age scenes. Contrast is generally excellent, though a few dark scenes suffer from inadequate shadow detail.
The Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared actually offers two lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mixes, one which presents some of Allan's voiceover narrative segues in English, and the other which is completely in Swedish. Aside from the interstitial English elements, both mixes are identical, and both offer substantial and convincing LFE that makes Allan's love of explosives a floorboard shaking event. Otherwise, the mix offers good immersive capabilities once Allan and his cohorts get out and about in contemporary Sweden, while also offering good placement of effects throughout the many historical vignettes. Dialogue is cleanly presented and is always well prioritized. Fidelity is excellent and dynamic range extremely wide (at least for "this" kind of film) on this problem free track.
The Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared never manages to tether the audience to itself emotionally in the same way that Forrest Gump did, and that prevents Allan's story from ever really resonating fully. There is still a whimsical if often surprisingly dark and tart series of vignettes on display, and Gustafsson is extremely winning in the title role. Technical merits are generally excellent, and The Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared comes Recommended.
(Still not reliable for this title)
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