Rent In Order of Disappearance (2014)

Who did the subtitles ?? - In Order of Disappearance review by CP Customer

Others have reviewed the film, which like them I enjoyed, but being in Norwegian it is subtitled, just wonder who thought white writing will be easy to read against a permanent snow background. Because of this we missed some of the conversations.

Another bloody winter - In Order of Disappearance review by AS

As with all Nordic noir everybody looks dour and it's always snowing. But this is entertaining stuff - if you don't mind the gory splashes all over that white stuff. Sharp, dark and complex with flashes of dry humour. Stick with it through a slow start and those disappearances begin to come thick and fast. Spot the signal for the old men's light at the inevitable end of their tunnel.

Excellent - In Order of Disappearance review by CL

So difficult to categorise so lets just say a hugely entertaining black comedy - the snowblower saves the best until the last 3 seconds

They got what they deserved - In Order of Disappearance review by PS

This was great fun and you can definitely see the influence of the Coen Brothers. What we particularly liked about it was that the scenes of violence were pretty tame for these days and it was so nice that all those who ended up dead were villains anyway. What a change to see a film with no graphic violence towards women or children!.

In order of disappearance - In Order of Disappearance review by IB

I was upset that this film was all in subtitles with out the option to have the language changed to English in the set up mode. It should be more clearly pointed out if a film is all in subtitles.

Scandi black humour - In Order of Disappearance review by Alphaville

In snowy northern Norway a snowplough driver exacts revenge on the gangsters he thinks have killed his son. Other gangsters get involved and the killings, some of them of the wrong people, escalate until the plot develops into a black comedy. There’s little going on behind the surface, and it does sag occasionally through repetition, but you’ll want to stick with it. There are some nice bleak moments, as in the very last few seconds, and some nice snowscapes to look at until the next killing comes along.

Visit the beautiful Norway, see the Northern Lights or a drug-war shoot-out.... - In Order of Disappearance review by Strovey

Stellan Skarsgård is the familiar face for most movie-goers in this Norwegian-Scandinavian crime-thriller-comedy. He is an angel of death for the mobsters in the chilly North much like Liam Neeson was in the virtual shot-for-shot remake Cold Pursuit. Skarsgård fills the role as the unlikely action hero better, more realistically or comically even in this film due the fact that whatever you think of his fine acting skills he really does not look like a man who would shout at you let alone bring ‘righteous justice’ upon your head.

Billed as a comedy it must be said there are few if any belly laughs in the runtime but more than a couple of ‘snorts’ or giggles. Perhaps the dark humour flew over my head, or it is a cultural thing, but I just failed to see the laughs. The absurdity of the set-up was there, and I suppose some deaths were predictable silly but people being killed one after the other is not that funny. I must disclose that while I like parts of Tarantino’s output I do not particularly find the constant ‘amusing’ deaths and murders particularly funny in his stories. The Coens are better at this type of humour, you could say they have that elusive twinkle in the eye.

In Order of Disappearance tries hard to be in the same universe as Tarantino or the Coens but it gets an honourable mention only.

The English name for the film comes from each chapter wherein a black name card appears on the screen naming the victim, their full name and dates of birth and death, which was a detail that I thought was amusing and well done.

Playing off against the talented Skarsgård in what is basically a three-hander is the late Bruno Ganz, immortalised in meme forever as the ranting Adolf Hitler, and Pål Sverre Hagen in some way a tall, lean, serious Norwegian version of Nicolas Lyndhurst, both actors highly successful in their own markets but perhaps not so well-known in the English language film market like Skarsgård. Ganz is impressive as the old patriarch that rules absolute, and Hagen must be a first as a vegan, divorced psychopathic drug baron. For my sensibilities he was too over-the-top as he tried to show how unbalanced he was whilst trying to stay ‘controlled’ but having said this it may have been tailored to the style and feel of the story. He was certainly memorable.

The crisp snowy backdrop is very Fargo and a beautiful stylish setting. The set piece murders and disposals whilst gory are also stylised and dare I say a bit silly at times, and this is where the film caused me the most consternation. I liked the setting, the acting seems suited to the story, but the mood or feeling is somehow off.

Initially the gangsters, the murders, are played straight and unpleasant but as we move along it is as if two different versions of the scripts got muddled up. Suddenly a cold calculated gangster does the most stupid thing anyone would do in a situation. Impossible set-pieces pop up with unlikely outcomes and finally the last five or ten minutes appear to be an alternate ending accidentally left in the final cut.

In Order of Disappearance or Kraftidioten which does not translate to English satisfactorily, is well-made, acted and beautifully shot but the writing by Kim Fupz Aakeson cannot seem to settle for what the tale is. This is disappointing because a very impressive film is just below the snowy surface of this movie.

It might pay to watch this film alongside Cold Pursuit, which I have not seen, to find out which one bears up the best. Oddly enough, throughout the runtime I had a peculiar feeling of déjà vu although I know I have seen neither film, I could not shake it. Not sure if that says something about In Order of Disappearance or me.