It also gives him time to try to kill himself, something he does repeatedly because each suicide attempt is thwarted by a neighborly interruption. Unemployment gives Ove more time to police his cul-de-sac and enforce homeowners’ association rules, taking notes on infractions and suffering no fools or misplaced bicycles. For Ove, it’s just the latest in a lifetime of bad experiences with “whiteshirts” - his disdainful term for heartless bureaucrats - as spelled out in the movie’s overloaded series of flashbacks (with Filip Berg and Viktor Baagoe playing younger versions of Ove). Holm and DP Göran Hallberg smartly frame the moment to emphasize the way a couple of 30ish managers shield themselves with their laptop screens while delivering the news. Graveside, he assures her that this day’s offering of two bunches of blossoms is “a one-off.”Ī more serious affront to Ove’s sense of justice arrives when he loses his job. It turns out that he’s no mere crotchety cheapskate but a grieving husband: The roses are for his wife’s grave, the one place he seems comfortable and quasi-chatty. To the artificial cheer of Muzak, Ove haggles with a store cashier over the price of cut flowers, unhappy to learn that his two-for-one coupon can’t be applied to the purchase of just a single bouquet. The opening sequence is a perfect example of what Holm gets right.
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