"The Rain Man", based on Jonas Karlsson's novel of the same name, is set in a small village in Småland where retired theater director Ingmar, played by Robert Gustafsson, lives to take care of his late wife's roses. But the summer is the hottest in living memory and the rain is conspicuous by its absence.
With his annoying neighbor Burman, played by Jonas Karlsson himself, Ingmar gets the chance to come back into the spotlight and change the entire village's life - or even the entire world.
Holm found inspiration for the film in the rain. Although he describes it as old-fashioned – with a beginning, middle and end – he doesn't think the film should have been made ten years ago.
I feel like this film has a hidden environmental message - I love that it's not written on the nose. In the film you see how politicians can actually start to believe in something that is completely "bananas". If we look at the USA and Trump, it's close to reality.
Wanted to be older
It was only at a later stage that Holm realized that the story once again revolves around a grumpy, withdrawn old man who has lost his wife to cancer. He denies that it is about a fairy tale. If you hope for a new type of Ove film, you will be disappointed, he emphasizes.
Robert Gustafsson has another big "old man" role under his belt in "The Hundred-Year-Old Who Stepped Out the Window and Disappeared" from 2013.
How do you make sure it doesn't just become a caricature of old men?
"I don't think about it much because I've always wanted to be older than I am. It's only now that I'm 60 that I feel like I can just slow down a little," says Gustafsson, adding that he has always found younger people embarrassing.
A tribute to uncle
Even when he read Karlsson's novel, Gustafsson recognized himself in Ingmar. However, unlike the others in the film, he has no dialect.
It was like removing my vocal cords. Dialects are the best I know. But in this story it's the exact opposite, a Stockholm guy who has come to the country.
Jonas Karlsson, who has roots in Småland, found his dialect inspiration in his late uncle who lived in Vissefjärda.
No comparison otherwise with Burman; he was incredibly cute, my uncle Sven, but then I thought it was kind of nice that he could sound like that. It's like a homage.
Sofie Fogde/TT
Facts: “Rain Man”
TT
"The Rain Man" is based on Jonas Karlsson's novel of the same name from 2019.
Director: Hannes Holm
Screenwriters: Hannes Holm and Jonas Karlsson.
The film takes place in a village in Småland and several scenes were filmed in Kalmar.
The film stars Robert Gustafsson, Jonas Karlsson, Emilia Sallhag, Karin Lithman and Simon Gregor Carlsson, among others.
The film premieres on Christmas Day.
