DON’T LET THEM OUT OF YOUR SIGHTS.

After working two decades as a cop in Stockholm, Erik Bäckström (Rolf Lassgård) returns to the small community in northern Sweden where he was born; he reconnects with his brother (Lennart Jähkel), and gets involved with a sensitive poaching investigation.

Kjell Sundvall’s most successful thriller is a provocative portrait of a place where he grew up, packed with every negative rural cliché imaginable (all of it based on fact though, according to Sundvall), but also beautiful scenery.

The film turns into a showdown between Erik and his increasingly psychotic brother. A vivid look at masculinity in decline, boosted by a solid cast.

1996-Sweden. 118 min. Color. Widescreen. Directed by Kjell Sundvall. Screenplay: Kjell Sundvall, Björn Carlström. Cinematography: Kjell Lagerroos. Cast: Rolf Lassgård (Erik Bäckström), Lennart Jähkel (Leif Bäckström), Jarmo Mäkinen (Tomme Harela), Tomas Norström, Thomas Hedengran, Göran Forsmark, Helena Bergström, Roland Hedlund. 

Trivia: Original title: Jägarna. Followed by False Trail (2011) and a TV series, The Hunters (2018-2021).

Guldbagge Awards: Best Director, Supporting Actor (Jähkel).

Last word: “The traditional impression of northern Sweden is that the men are quiet and slow. But Leif is such an exciting character, there’s something wild about him. I don’t know what Kjell [Sundvall] saw in me that made him give me the part. I had doubts and kept wondering how the hell I could pull it off. But it’s a well written part […] I had to do a De Niro. Kjell said, ‘drink beer, damn it, you’re supposed to be Rolf Lassgård’s brother’. So, at the most I weighed 213 pounds.” (Jähkel, Aftonbladet)