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STOCKHOLM
Director: Robert Budreau Cast: Ethan Hawke, Noomi Rapace, Mark Strong, Christopher Heyerdahl, Shanti Roney, Bea Santos, Thorbjørn Harr MPAA
Rating: Running Time: 1:32 Release Date: 4/12/19 (limited); 4/26/19 (wider) |
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Review by Mark Dujsik | April 25, 2019 It was a 1973 bank robbery in the capital of Sweden that inspired the term "Stockholm syndrome," and that crime, as well as the relationship that developed between the criminals and their hostages, is recreated in Stockholm. Writer/director Robert Budreau's film smartly doesn't attempt to analyze the phenomenon. It simply dramatizes what happened, and in doing so from an up-close-and-personal perspective of the robbers and the hostages, Budreau illuminates why, especially in this particular case, such a bond might not be as strange as it may seem. The robbers are Lars (Ethan Hawke), a man of multiple aliases, and Gunnar (Mark Strong), a criminal partner whom Lars has released from prison as part of his demands. Of the three hostages, Bianca (Noomi Rapace), a teller at the bank, is central to the story. Mattsson (Christopher Heyerdahl) is the chief of police, called in to personally oversee negotiations because the city has never experienced anything like this before. Some opening text emphasizes the "absurd" nature of this true story, and indeed, the particulars are quite odd, although likely filled with at least some dramatic license. The real strangeness, though, is how all of these characters, their personalities, their fears, and their disappointments with life seem to align in such a way that a bond between captors and captives was almost inevitable. Early on, it becomes clear to Bianca that Lars, despite his threats, is almost certainly incapable of killing or even hurting any of the hostages. The real threat, at least from the point of view of the captives, seems to be coming from the police, whose mounting frustration with the situation starts to look like either incompetence or an unwillingness to rescue the hostages. From that perspective, the cops look dangerous. A single itchy trigger finger could be the end of any of them. The press starts to openly wonder if the two women and one man being held have been brainwashed, but through his characterizations of Bianca and the others (along with the performances, which are solid all around), Budreau sees their actions merely as a matter of survival. They follow along with Lars and Gunnar because they have no other option. At a certain point, Stockholm makes it clear that fear and the desire to survive are what unite criminal and captive. Sometimes the real enemy is a simple matter of perspective. Copyright © 2019 by Mark Dujsik. All rights reserved. |
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(for
language and brief violence)
