In Order of Disappearance

This film was the basis for the current film Cold Pursuit starring Liam Neeson. However, even watching the film in Norwegian with English subtitles, this is a WAY better film than Cold Pursuit. Recommend entirely this film to you and you will enjoy it. There is not a ton of dialogue anyway, so the English subtitles never get in the way of your enjoyment. My suggestion, watch this original film and not the Liam Neeson remake! Stellan Skarsgård is in the Liam Neeson role in this film, and he is amazing. You know Stellan Skarsgård from all those nutty Mama Mia films (plus many more as he is very accomplished). Don't wait! Rent this one and perk up your weekend.

Swift, fleet-of-foot, and efficient, with clean lines and a sleek finish, the Norwegian black comedy In Order of Disappearance glides through the world like a perfectly engineered car or a gorgeous piece of modern furniture.Set in the sparse, blindingly white snowfields of the Scandinavian winter, Hans Petter Moland's violent, satirical crime thriller is assembled with such formal rigor and visual poetry that it throws into high relief the messy, sweaty, almost repulsively human drama that unspools.The film's knockout power is due in no small part to the contributions of cinematographer Philip Øgaard and leading man Stellan Skarsgård, who have worked with the writer-director on two of his best-known features, A Somewhat Gentle Man (2010) and Aberdeen (2000).Though he's backed by a strong ensemble cast that includes Peter Andersson (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo), Danish star Birgitte Hjort Sørensen (Borgen), and German-film star Bruno Ganz (The American Friend), Skarsgård dominates the screen with his 6-foot, 4-inch frame, his outsize rage and grief, and the gigantic snowplow truck he drives.Skarsgård plays Nils, a successful small-town businessman. His world comes crashing down when his twentysomething son turns up dead in Oslo of a drug overdose. Convinced the boy wasn't a drug user, Nils digs deeper, only to find that the young man was murdered on orders from a local thug acting on behalf of Oslo's new drug kingpin, the Count (Pål Sverre Hagen), a spoiled rich kid who is heir to a chain of bakeries.Uncovering this bit of information involves capturing, torturing, and killing a chain of bad guys, each higher up on the mobster totem pole than the last.The killings are gruesome, often absurd events, but Moland's camera doesn't fetishize violence by lingering on the gore and the blood. Nils carefully rolls up each body in chicken wire and throws it off a cliff into a massive waterfall.(Chicken wire? Nils is really proud of the idea: Unlike plastic or tarp, chicken wire lets fishes through from day one so they can eat up the body before it gets all bloated up and floats to the surface. What's more, he explains, chicken wire is heavier than plastic and won't decompose for years, so it'll keep the body in place.)Like the Coen brothers' best flicks, In Order of Disappearance gets its gruesomely comic momentum from a domino effect of unintended consequences put into motion by the hero's actions.The violent whirlwind Nils unleashes sucks in a colorful cast of characters, including a retired mobster known as Wingman (Andersson), a Japanese Danish hit man familiar to clients as the Chinaman (David Sakurai), and, eventually, Scandinavia's top Serbian drug lord, known to all as Papa (Ganz).Operatic, absurdist, and scathing, Moland's story rages on with tremendous force and speed, never slowing down for extraneous junk like backstories, explanations, or tiresome exposition.In Order of Disappearance will no doubt invite comparisons to similarly stylized, violent black comedies by Quentin Tarantino and the Coens.Yet, like 2011's murder farce Headhunters by Moland's Norwegian compatriot Morten Tyldum, In Order of Disappearance has an utterly unique feel, a certain Scandinavian crispness that's impossible to duplicate.

My mother in law (77), father in law (80), wife (55), son (22) and I all watched this for family movie night. My wife is obsessed with Nordic Noir, so this was her choice. This is one of the better revenge movies I have seen in a very long time. My father in law said that it reminded him of Charles Bronson in Death Wish. The characters were fun, entertaining and the actors, especially Stellan Skarsgard, were fantastic. It was quirky in a way that reminded me of Tarantino films. If you like pulp fiction, Django unchained and Kill Bill, this is the same type of movie you will like. I pointed out the age range of the people watching to give you an idea of the appeal through a broad range of adults from young to old who really enjoyed it. The setting is a small town in Norway, with lots of snow. The villain was truly evil and crazy. The hero was a good man and citizen, just how I like my heroes and villains. Oftentimes these days filmmakers make movies or TV series where you have no one to root for and there is no one you like or care about. This is not the case here. Really fun and highly recommended if you like the type of movie I have described above.

Stellan Skarsgard is one of my favorite Scandinavian actors. I last saw him in the series 'River'. In this surprisingly entertaining film, Skarsgard plays Nils a quiet husband and father who is a snow plow driver in a remote part of Norway. In fact before you start viewing this film, turn the heat up or put on a heavy jacket. What you are about to see is mountains of white snow all around you that needs to be plowed. In fact, there is so much snow I felt the cold all the time.Nils and his wife discover their son is dead, and the verdict is drug overdose. Nils does not accept this, and he goes about finding the truth.As Nils puts two and two together he finds a web of drug dealers, and Nils takes it upon himself to be the eliminator. The interesting part of this film is that each person who dies is given a Memoriam, in order of their disappearance. Many characters in this film, the one that sticks out is Pal Sverre Valheim Hagen, the psychopathic leader of the drug detail. He wears a ponytail, is vegan, and is prone to fits of crying and madness. All if the characters have their own personality, and there is a little humor, here and there. A surprisingly good filmRecommended. prisrob 01-15-17

Thie is the original film Liam Neeson's Cold Pursuit remade. It's superior for it's starkness and the performance of the lead actor. As a revenge flick the justice a grieving father seeks is served out like dominoes falling. The subtitles aren't a issue here as it is light on dialog and moves at a steady clip. The brutal cold is a fitting backdrop to this cold violence. Simplicity pays huge dividends in this particular story.

Beautiful scenery of frozen Norway, set against the backdrop of Gangs, Drugs, Balkan mafia and a Father's commitment to avenge his son's death. North European drama at it's best. Even has a gay scene. And point-blank head shots with a sawed-off rifle in it. Don't miss this euro-gem with subtitles.

The original is so much better than the Americanized remake. Aren't they always? Why did they even think an American remake is worth doing? Could it be for the money? No. That couldn't be it.

This is a brilliant dark comedy revolving around Snowplough driver, Nils Dickman (the ever-brilliant Stellan Skarsgard), who is on a revenge mission following the murder of his only son. The criminal gang leader, the Count (played by the excellent Pal Sverre Hagan) is determined to find out who is bumping off his men and put a stop to it.Remade by the same Director for the American market (as "Open Pursuit") with Liam Neeson (Hollywood's answer to Stellan Skarsgard!) in the lead role, you're much better to watch this original version. The Scandinavian's dark sense of humour is far closer to ours than the Americans - the acting's better, the scenery's better and hearing that lovely lilting Norwegian language is much better than any American accent (I could listen to the Count saying "Fruit Loops" forever!).

Sometimes people should see the original film before seeing a Hollywood remake. Norwegian Director Hans Peter Moland made this film in 2014 with the brilliant Swedish actor Stellan Skarsgård.Yes, it is a bit rough around the edges (production wise) but the quirkiness of the film (complete with an on going, on screen body count) is what makes the movie a gem.Skarsgård's character is out to avenge his son's death by a drug lord and being a snowplow operator in a land of snow he does it with ice cold revenge. Even if it takes body after body after body. (Drug Lords have a lot of people that work for them).It is as much a comedy as it is a "revenge" flick and maybe that is why Hollywood came knocking to have Moland direct Liam Neeson in the remake.Moland should be proud of the original; this film, even though it will take the remake (with Neeson) to grab the attention of those film viewers who would never dare go near a subtitle.Bravo !!!

Impressed by Stellan Skarsgard’s performance in BBC’s River I looked for more of his work and came across this marvellous off-beat darkly comedic Norwegian crime thriller where he plays Nils Dickman, an introverted, mild-mannered, hard-working middle-aged snowplough driver employed to keep the roads passible in a beautiful rural part of the country. Despite being an immigrant Swede he is liked and respected by his community, so much so they name him Citizen of the Year, an accolade which he accepts with quiet bewilderment (“I’m just doing my job”). However, his mundane life is torn apart when he receives news that his son has died of a heroin overdose. Refusing to believe that his son was a junkie Nils begins to investigate the circumstances surrounding his death and thereby becomes a catalyst for all that follows. What follows is a violent turf-war between an indigenous gang headed by a yuppie vegan known as The Count and a bunch of Serbian interlopers headed by Bruno Ganz’ softly spoken world weary godfather known as Papa. The movie is Death Wish meets Fargo meets Duel meets Lilyhammer, combining ruthless retribution with insightful amusing social commentary. Each henchman’s demise is sombrely acknowledged by a deadpan ‘death notice’ on the screen containing the character’s birth name, nickname and religious denomination. Another film I initially rented and will now purchase.

An entertaining black comedy that gives a Scandinavian take on the revenge movie genre. Stellan Skarsgard is excellent as the main character and although some say that he is type cast in his roles, he plays this part superbly. There are some great twists and turns in every sense and I was thoroughly entertained throughout. I am an official fan of Scandinavian thrillers, both serials and films as they seem to offer a more realistic perspective than mainstream cinema offers for a quick buck and the personalities shine through and you can connect with them. There are a number of interesting characters in this, albeit some are more cameo roles, but add to the overall context of the plot. This certainly a different film, watch, enjoy and try a few more world cinema outings as you won't be disappointed.

What a great film. Can't recommend it enough. Saw it first on t.v. and then went straight out and bought it for my collection. Stellan Skarsgaard is a man who knows what he is about, who carries out his murders in a quiet and ruthless manner, and we are behind him all the way!