Adapted from Alfredson’s own novel En ond man (An Evil Man), this epic drama is widely regarded as a landmark of Swedish cinema. Set in Skåne in the 1930s, it follows Sven, a young man with a cleft lip whom those around him dismiss as intellectually disabled. After his mother’s death, he is ruthlessly exploited by Höglund, a local factory owner and Nazi sympathiser.
With compassion but without sentimentality, Alfredson explores social exclusion, moral indifference and the violence born of despair. This harrowing story of hatred and revenge brought its leading actor, Stellan Skarsgård, international recognition when he received the Silver Bear for Best Actor at the 1982 Berlin International Film Festival.
