Movie Review: ‘The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared’
(Music Box Films)
By Eileen Li
May 5, 2015 12:30 a.m.
While a glut of longevity advice exists on the Internet, perhaps one of the most effective ways for a person to live to 100 is to let all events, whether fortunate or misfortunate, glide off one’s shoulder.
Opening in Los Angeles on Friday, Swedish director Felix Herngren’s comedy, “The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared,” is an exploration in serendipity. Following in the same vein as the 1994 American film “Forrest Gump,” it hits home with an uplifting “que sera sera” message but is held back by a jumbled narrative.
The film follows and is narrated by explosives expert Allan Karlsson (Robert Gustafsson) on his 100th birthday. Confined in a nursing home after an incident involving dynamite, he escapes through the window simply because he has gotten bored.
After inadvertently stealing a biker gang member’s suitcase full of money, he evades the bloodthirsty members of the gang, picking up a motley group of supporters along the way.
The film is told through flashback narrative, which follows Karlsson’s life from childhood to old age. Like “Forrest Gump,” he participates in both celebrated and controversial moments in history, including a meeting with President Harry Truman (Kerry Shale) and imprisonment in a harsh Soviet Gulag during World War II.
The narrative style is effective in fleshing out Karlsson’s attitude toward life – an ironic, slightly detached callousness toward the suffering of both himself and others. He narrates both his mother (Pernilla Göst) and father’s (Ola Björkman) deaths, his own castration and other would-be tragic events without attaching nostalgia or pain.
The film’s structure serves to emphasize its theme, which is stated by Karlsson’s mother on her deathbed: “Don’t think so much, just do it.” Both in his past and present, Karlsson treats both fortunate and unfortunate events as interesting surprises, making him seemingly immune to experiences that are beyond his control.
While the film’s “don’t worry” theme is emphasised again and again, “The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared’s” narrative style also unfortunately distracts from Karlsson’s equally significant present-day adventure.
With an energetic musical score reminiscent of a circus tune, the film’s sense of humor combines black comedy with farce. Both death and romance are treated with irreverence. One man is killed under the rump of an elephant and one is frozen to death in a meat freezer by accident. While this type of humor, with seniors as its vehicle, is enjoyable, the narrative structure of the film keeps the present-day plot of the film from becoming an empathy-inspiring, absorbing experience.
The main attraction of “The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared” is its endearing cast of main characters, which stay consistent despite the film’s lack of organization. Karlsson himself is instantly likeable because of his unnatural obsession with explosives and irreverent personality. His dialogue is pleasingly crude and unpredictable, making him a worthy focal point of the film.
Both the gang members and Karlsson’s new friends are caricatured, but all have a realistic core flaw that make them relatable to the audience. Benny (David Wiberg), for example, has completed about 500 units in college yet has received no degree, unsure of what he wants to do in life.
By the end of the film, predictably, most of these characters have either died or gained a kernel of wisdom from their adventure. The wisdom of Karlsson’s mother has not only transformed her son, but also the people that he interacts with throughout his life. Despite the death and tragedy that abounds in the film, “The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared” remains on a positive tone throughout, almost to a fault.
While its theme is not altogether original, “The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared” presents it in an effective and entertaining way. If its storyline were structured differently, it would transform from a parable into an absorbing story in its own right.
– Eileen Li
