Sometimes research can take one to interesting places. For instance: in researching details for this article, I come upon a genre known as “Scandi Crime,” or “Scandinavian Noir,” which is basically what it sounds like: crime or noir fiction from the Scandinavian countries. We Americans aren’t likely to recognize many of the significant names in the genre – people such as Henning Mankell, Mari Jungstedt, and Kjell Eriksson – but then there is Stieg Larsson, who is [bafflingly] famous for his “Millennium Trilogy,” or The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo trilogy. (The books are complete crap – skip them and go right for the movies, which are decent.)
All this to say that today’s topic falls in the genre of Scandi Noir: the Norwegian film Headhunters [4](Hodejegeme in the original language), adapted from the novel of the same name by Jo Nesbø and directed by Morten Tyldum.
Aksel Hennie stars as Roger Brown, a corporate headhunter with an interesting hobby: he is an art thief. While on assignment to find a candidate for a CEO position, Brown meets Clas Greve (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau), who is perfect for the job – and as an added bonus, he owns an original Rubens, which Brown decides to steal. Chaos ensues.
The film has received very positive reviews – currently holding a 92% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes – and so, naturally, a Hollywood remake is already in the works. See the original in theaters while you can!
Headhunters opens this weekend at Village 8 Theaters as the newest installment in the Louisville Exclusives Series. It is scheduled to play until Thursday, July 26 (this is subject to change).
Village 8 is located at 4014 Dutchmans Lane. Further theater information and showtimes can be found at the Village 8 website [5].
Image: Internet Movie Database