Wicked (and wicked funny) revenge tale from Norway sees Stellen Skarsgård’s Citizen-of-the-Year, a Nordic legend in snow clearance, hunting down the men responsible for his son’s death. The police write it off as a drug overdose, but Skarsgård knows better, and with a lead from his dead son’s pal is soon murdering his way up the chain of command in a big-time drug organization with surprising ease . . . and gory violence. But it all becomes much more complicated when the attacked gang mistakenly blames a rival outfit of Serbian drug suppliers for the deaths, inadvertently killing the competitor’s son to get even. That makes two gangs & one revenge-minded father all out for bloody justice; hoods dropping like flies. Director Hans Petter Moland manages the mayhem with grim hilarity & a tip-top cast (that’s Bruno Ganz using a cracked voice as the Serbian Godfather), violent afterbeats often alarmingly funny. You know you shouldn’t laugh, but can’t help it. All in the midst of such magnificent snowy beauty. Copy on the packaging mentions Tarantino & the Coen Bros. for comparison, but the tone & technique (amused, even elegant, with graphic violence waning rather than waxing) is more Don Siegel meets Aki Kaurismäki. (Imagine that pair on a Liam Neeson kickass revenge pic to get the idea.*) A token Stateside release didn’t pan out, but don’t let that stop you.
DOUBLE-BILL: *Sure enough, Moland is announced for an English-language remake next year, retitled HARD POWDER, with (yep) Liam Neeson attached. Don’t let that stop you from watching this first, either.
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