P & B is a cynical yet deeply humane social comedy about two men on the margins of society: petty crook Pettersson and Bendel, an immigrant from Yugoslavia. Brought together by chance, they embark on a series of dubious business ventures and soon rise to the upper reaches of Stockholm’s financial world, where the rules prove hardly any cleaner than their own.
Through humour, Alfredson mercilessly exposes the greed, bureaucracy, xenophobia and hypocrisy of affluent Swedish society in the 1980s. Stellan Skarsgård and Allan Edwall bring the two con men to life with effortless chemistry, while Gunnar Svensson’s music, including songs performed by Agnetha Fältskog, adds to the film’s irreverent charm.
