We didn’t have a screening this past week, so I went to Netflix to see what was new. I saw “The Swedish Connection,” which is a true story about a lawyer, Gosta Engzell, who overcomes bureaucracy to save Jews hunted across Europe by the Nazis and sent to concentration camps. He develops and executes covert plans to rescue thousands of European Jewish refugees by using legal loopholes and paperwork during World War II.
During the war, Sweden remained neutral, and Germany refrained from invading because the Swedish government yielded to Germany’s demands. It seems in every autocracy, the dictator or would-be dictator needs someone to hate: Jews in Germany, Kurds in Turkey, Sunnis in Iran and immigrants here in the United States.
Henrik Dorsin stars as Gösta Engzell, head of the legal department in the Swedish Foreign Ministry that processes requests from Jews for asylum. Sissela Benn is Rut Vogl, a Jewish-German woman who works in Engzell’s legal department. Jonas Karlsson is Staffan Söderström, the cabinet secretary who is constantly at odds with Engzell. Jonas Malmsjö plays Svante Hellstedt, one of Engzell’s subordinates in the legal department. Carl Jacobson is Magnus Hallonsten, another one of Engzell’s subordinates in the legal department. Marianne Mörck is Stina Johansson, Engzell’s assistant who is about to retire.
The acting was understated but perfect for the subject matter of the film. Henrik Dorsin’s performance was excellent. There were too many characters to keep track of. I think it would have been a stronger story using fewer characters and developing each character’s motives.
Therese Ahlbeck and Marcus Olsson directed the film and wrote the script. The writers assumed audiences knew more about Engzell and the Swedish government than many American viewers likely will. The writers needed to use more time to develop the characters and explain the situation.
One problem I had with the film is that they flashed the title of every character too fast to read. I had to figure out who people were and what their titles were, but sometimes I could figure it out, and most of the time I couldn’t.