As Tim Roth talks about the 1980s Los Angeles marijuana drought in Reservoir Dogs, so cultural commentators in the future will discuss with great enthusiasm for the Scandinavian crime boom of the 21st century.
The Killing, Borgen, Wallender, Stieg Larsson's Millennium series - these are great times indeed if you're a fan of i) crime, and ii) Norway, Sweden and Denmark (in case you were wondering, Finland isn't technically part of Scandinavia, although you might already have worked that out since the nation hasn't produced any decent crime fiction of late).
In the case of Oslo-born author Jo Nesbo, he was a big noise years before ‘Scandi noir’ was considered a thing. However, it's an adaptation of his best-selling book Headhunters that represents the highlight of a phenomenon that just keeps on giving.
Roger Brown (Aksel Hennie ) is having a very bad day. Although he's well compensated as a corporate headhunter, the woman in his life (Synnove Macody Lund) is so high maintenance, our man has to steal art work to keep her in the style to which she has become accustomed. When he meets potential client and art collector Clas Greve (Jamie Lannister himself Nikolaj Coster-Waldau), Roger thinks he has a chance to kill two birds with one stone. Since Clas is a former mercenary, it's hard to think of a worse person to get on the wrong side of. Which, of course, is precisely what Roger does...
Released in Norway in 2011, Headhunters was subsequently sold to over 50 countries, a unique feat for a Norwegian film. This means that, even before it opened in the US and the UK, Morten Tyldum's movie as a bona fide phenomenon. This is fitting since it's truly phenomenal. That it's gritty and compelling almost goes without saying. What's more surprising is how funny Headhunters is. In relating the sorry details of Roger's existence. we're actively encouraged to enjoy his discomfort, in much they way we savoured David Brent's every awkward tie-tug in The Office.
The sort of all-round entertainment cinema ought to provide more often but doesn't, only those with a severe subtitle aversion ought to avoid Headhunters. As for everyone else, see it now before Hollywood has a chance to ruin it. Apparently Mark Wahlberg's already interested in the screenplay rights...