Värn
During the Cold War peak, a Swedish farmhand transforms his house into a community shelter, his fixation contrasting with everyday rural life, captured in striking black and white imagery.
Karl-Göran Persson (Denis Lavant) is a farmhand in southernmost Sweden. He spends most of his time – from the 1940s to the 1970s - fortifying his house, using any scrap of material he could get his hands on. Grown-ups shake their heads and chuckle at his persistence but leave the likeable fellow alone. Unlike children, who see Karl-Göran as one of their own and in turn, we become witness to his own childlike traits. This is a deeply heartwarming and concise tribute to a real-life obsession with the Swiss ‘Re-doubt’; a speculative Cold War community fall-out shelter. The film has a heart of gold, and Lavant, a skilled disciple of pantomime and vintage movie comedy, is in his absolute element as the agitated, toiling farmhand. (Subtitles)
Sweden 2025 John Skoog 85m
