Gränsen/Beyond the Border

When watching this film, one come to think of the song by Queen: "Save me", with the initial lyrics: "It started of so well...". Not that we thought: "Oh Save Us" but it didn't turn out as well as we had hoped.

The film is planted in the northern parts of Sweden (Värmland), on the border between Sweden and Norway. The year is 1942.

There, at check-point 83, two young soldiers, unauthorized, leave the camp in order to "take a better look" at the enemy.
This attitude should be understood against the background of what most of you know, namely that Sweden was kept out of the war thanks to - or because of - the fact that "they" (the government, military and companies/enterprises) more or less cooperated with the Nazis or at least did nothing to interfere with their expansionist plans.
For many Swedish soldiers this meant that they hardly saw Nazis, or at least only at a distance as they never were forced to fight them.

The two young - and naive - men, do encounter a group of German soldiers when the latter are chasing, what most likely is a Norwegian soldier, belonging to the resistant movement.
Now the situation gets tough as the Germans have spotted the two Swedes and for the Nazis it doesn't matter if they will create problems or not, their strategy was of course to shoot first and ask the questions later (as in 'the Wild West').
The two Swedes are now being chased by the nazis and at the check-point, noone has noticed anything as the soldier in charge - the night when they disappeared - had arranged a party where the liquor flowed.

One of the men being chased is the brother of Lieutenant Aron Stenström (André Sjöberg), having left his brother at this check-point, in the belief that the commanding soldier was a seriously working person, not jeopardizing his soldiers lives.

As for Stenström himself he is being treated rather harsly by his major - Adolfsson (Johan Hedenberg, the director having used a surname reminding us of Adolf H./'Adolfs son', as this major seem more inclined towards nazism than patriotism, in our opinion). The latter had promised him some leave, in order to get married but now he is assigned another mission. Stenström has to get behind enemy lines to find out if and when the Nazis have planned to invade Sweden.

When arriving at the check-point he finds out about his brother, thereby ordering a group of soldiers to follow him behind enemy lines to both find his brother and the documents displaying the German inavsion plans.

He take along a veteran, Wille Järvinen (Antti Reini), a Finnish soldier being the only one who has experienced war and battles. Järvinen is a tough and resolute man, soon being in charge of the operation as Stenström isn't up to the task.

On their mission they find one of the soldiers tortured to death and the others get more and more upset, loosing their spirit.

Bjørn Sundquist impersonate a Norwegian resistance fighter (Egil), saving Stenströms and Järvinens lives when they are ambushed, not by Germans, but by Swedes! Why is explained in the film. Egil also have some vital information leading them to where Stenströms brother is held prisoner.

On the whole this film has some good parts, not least when displaying the cowardness of the Swedish soldiers, their unwillingness to fight the Germans or to fight at all, their oblique cooperation with the Nazis and their inexplicable behaviour leading them to attack their own soldiers rather than the Germans.
All this could have developed into an interesting and revealing story about the Swedish approach towards the Nazis and the more or less defeatist way of treating their real enemies but unfortunately it doesn't.

Not that we don't understand the formal relations between the Swedes and Germans or that we don't see the fear, and anguish felt by the Swedish soldiers who more or less give the impressoin wanting to return to a cozy, warm home far from the fights. All this is quite obvious.
Concerning the latter (wanting to return to a "cozy" home), I guess most soldiers nourished the same dream, no matter where they came from but most soldiers belonging to the occupied countries, had also accepted the conditions of war, being well aware of the fact that either they fought or they would be lost, dead and burried both as nations and individuals. Rather die in the war against a diabolical, expansionist enemy than surrender to the very same.

The problem is that the director Richard Holm, for too long, visually contemplates on the different characters inner struggle, their fears and lack of decisiveness, something rather early one understood by the viewer.
If the ambition is to depict these personal agonies by using close ups, one should create something interesting and interpretable out of the facial expressons and Holm doesn't succeed in doing so.
Maybe the casting is the hinge - besides Antti Reini who is superb in his role as the tough, clear-sighted, wise and decisive soldier.

It's not at all a bad film but some long takes could have been shortened as they neither contributed to a deeper understanding, emotionally or intellectually nor added more suspense to the events.

This is Holms first feature film, having made TV movies and shorts, wherefore we look forward to see his next œuvre, in order to see if he will mature as a film maker.

(Poster copied from: http://filmengransen.se/wp-content/uploads/gransen_bio_2x110.jpg)

(Photo soldier with blood in his face copied from: http://www.bltsydostran.se/multimedia/dynamic/01220/361739_jpg_1220964u.jpg)

(Photo Järvinen/Antti Reini aiming with his gun copied from: http://filmblogg.pricerunner.se/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/gr%C3%A4nsen2.jpg)