If you like quirky foreign films, then A Somewhat Gentle Man is right up your alley. I enjoy quirky characters and love quirky humor when they are done right. Such is the case with A Somewhat Gentle Man. It is a foreign film that appeals to those with an offbeat sense of humor.
Ulrik (Stellan Skarsgard) is a Norwegian hit man. After pulling a twelve-year stint in prison for murder, Ulrik emerges a new man. He has done his time and seeks to get his life back together. Prison has estranged him from his wife, Wenche (Kjersti Holmen) and son, Geir (Jan Gunnar Roise). Two things are certain about Ulrik. First, his life as a hitman is not an easy one to leave. Second, Ulrik will engage with sexual relations with just about any woman who will submit…and they all seem willing.
While Ulrik was in prison, the head of his organized crime family, Rune (Bjorn Floberg) ensured that his wife and son received a monthly stipend. Now that he has been released, Rune wants to get Ulrik back in the game. This includes having Ulrik stalk the guy that ratted him out so he can extract revenge. The payback seems to be more about restoring the integrity of the organization than providing Ulrik with closure. Ulrik finds ways to avoid his new mission, which ultimately leads him into conflict with Rune.
Meanwhile, Ulrik has established housing. He lives in the basement of one of Rune’s associates, Karen (Jorunn Kjellsby). The landlady has a stare that could peel paint. The rough exterior hides an inner lonesomeness. She begins wooing Ulrik by cooking him meals, ultimately laying back seductively on his bed (if seductive can be comical) and telling Ulrik to hurry up and get it over with. Ulrik obliges with a gentleness that seems as much grateful for a place to stay as it is anything else. The quirky relationship between the two creates an odd undercurrent of unspoken fidelity that eventually becomes strained when Ulrik begins dating Merete (Jannike Kruse).
Ulrik carefully balances his work while avoiding Rune and his demands to extract revenge. He also attempts to reconnect with his son, whose wife, Silje (Julia Bache-Wiig) is expecting a child. However, Kristian told Silje his father was dead rather than admit he was in prison. When Silje realizes the truth about Ulrik, she rejects him. The film balances Urlik’s sexual adventures with his desire to start a new life, reconnecting with the family he left behind. Everything seems to go off track for the gentle giant, until he seizes control of his destiny and forges his own path forward.
The greatest strength of A Somewhat Gentle Man is the character development. The offbeat humor is a by-product of carefully constructed characters that have unusual complexity and strange personality traits. Because Ulrik lives in a small community, people tend to know each other, adding another dimension to the twisted relationships that Ulrik finds himself roped into. The balance of nuance and credibly flawed characters within a twisted redemption story creates offbeat, dry humor at every turn. Situations that would not be funny in any other context evoke chuckles in this bizarre, enjoyable and unpredictable story. Kim Fupz Aakeson has given us a screenplay worth remembering.
I have enjoyed Stellan Skarsgard in some of his other films and he does not disappoint in A Somewhat Gentle Man. His ability to project an understated character combined with awesome comedic timing resulted in a character that the audience can quickly identify with. The writing of his character was brilliant, but his delivery made the process worthwhile. His was an exceptional lead character of a quirky quality that you don’t often find. His performance is supported by an equally impressive cast. Notably, Kjellsby as the landlady. Her performance was equally dry, with a character that possesses an awkward self-confidence in spite of her rough exterior. The performances required superb interpretation by the actors to pull of the eccentricities built into the characters.
A Somewhat Gentle Man has numerous sex scenes. While the scenes only feature nudity once (female breasts), there are several of them. The sex scenes, however, are not created romantically. They form part of the dry humor that lies at the heart of this film. While sex scenes as comedy is not a new concept, this film handles that approach well. The film also features violence that includes a man breaking another man’s arm and someone getting crushed to death inside a car compacter. The violence is only mildly gory. The film also has strong language and adult themes. If this film were rated by the MPAA, the rating would undoubtedly be an R rating. The film has a run time of one hour, 53 minutes.
I enjoyed A Somewhat Gentle Man for the understated humor and quirky characters. The dialogue was rich, the situations amusing and the concept brilliant. It twists the story of redemption into a rewarding comedy drama that was worth watching. While the redemption concept has been done a million times, A Somewhat Gentle Man offers its own refreshing spin. The performances were spot on, the writing sharp and the production value watchable. I would highly recommend this film if you can find it streaming. 8/10.
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