Stockholm (2018)

July 13, 2019 3:07 AM

Based on the absurd but true 1973 bank heist and hostage crisis in Stockholm that was documented in the New Yorker as the origins of the 'Stockholm Syndrome'.
posted by ellieBOA (1 comment total)

Thanks for posting, ellieBOA! Thoroughly enjoyed.

I thought that it was a nice vehicle for everyone involved to try something new; did not recognize Rapace at all, I've always liked Hawke and it's nice to see him broaden his range. Fan of Mark Strong and it's funny to see him with hair (long flowing locks at that) for once.

Heyerdahl in a non-creepy (for certain values of non-creepy) role for once!

LOL! Bianca telling the police officer how to prepare dinner as a reveal that they are married!

Don't know how realistic it is, but I liked how they showed Hawke's character; he's obviously not very bright, but showing the trauma that he experienced while incarcerated through his preparation for the robbery (mobile TV, playing cards) to spend the time was brilliant. This is someone who hated not having anything to do.

So the actual person was Jan-Erik Olsson; is there any truth to his trying to appear as an American (dress, accent)? Interesting that Olsson ended up in Thailand as a supermarket owner for 15 years after being released about a decade after being inprisoned, before retiring back to Sweden.

It made me think about the 'Stockholm Syndrome' thing again; it's bonkers and not really-a-thing anymore, but I could see right-wing hysteria misinterpreting the actual situation and invoking fever-dreams of "violent criminals" and attributing "brain washing" and "new agiesm" against what might probably just have been - the robbers were just folk/ people who were in a shitty situation and made a (series of) spectacularly bad decisions, but because they were decent enough that the hostages sympathized with them and tried to tell the truth against the powers that wanted to villainize the perpetrators .
posted by porpoise at 9:13 PM on July 15, 2019 [1 favorite]