The 100 Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared
is a Swedish foreign language film that hilariously true is to its title.
The film follows Allan Karlsson, who escapes from his nursing home and sets on a once in a lifetime journey.
The film follows Allan Karlsson, who escapes from his nursing home and sets on a once in a lifetime journey.
The 100 Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared touches
on many real world themes including the roles we give seniors in civil society,
important historical events throughout the years and how the trend of recency
bias has led us forget many things from the past.
Synopsis
Allan Karlsson is about to turn the big 1-0-0. Having lived
such a long time a celebration must be in order, no?
Well, that’s exactly what
the people at his nursing home have in mind. They set up a surprise party for
him with a cake and everything. But, the real surprise is that Allan is nowhere
to be seen. As the title to the film states, he climbs out of a window and disappears
like the wind.
At the age of 100, Allan begins to wander around his town
going from place to place while the police try to find him. And so starts his
comedic journey of wild twists and turns, all while evading the authorities.
The film follows Allan on his journey as he plays out old
memories of the past (similar to Tom Hanks’ character seen in Forrest Gump). Through his memories, we realize that
Allan is not just your ordinary senior citizen. On the contrary he his lived
quite a remarkable life.
His stories take you on even wilder adventures than
the journey he currently is undertaking. All of which make for a great Scandinavian black comedy and a hilarious watch.
Important Themes
The 100 Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared
is a film that draws many comparisons to not only Forrest Gump, but also to two
other films I have spoken about in the past; Japanese film Sweet Bean and Korean film Ode To My Father.
The Japanese and Korean films both focus on the roles we attribute
to seniors in broad society. More specifically The 100 Year-Old Man Who Climbed
Out the Window and Disappeared and Ode To My Father both tell stories
that touch on how each main character was impacted by significant global historical
events.
If you want to read more about the societal roles we delegate
to senior citizens and our modern perception of the past, I urge you to read
those two previous blog posts.
For this film, I’ll instead focus on more modern
themes prevalent in today’s society.
Currently we are living in the midst of an unprecedented
information age. Never before have we had access to so much information and
almost immediate 24-hour commentary on news and ongoing events.
Because of this trend,
many of us are taking in an excessive amount of information on a daily basis. This constant reporting and analysis of news, leads towards more people becoming desensitized to issues while solely focusing on the new
events.
This has led to many developing something called a recency bias, where people are deeming recent events the
most significant in human history, while dismissing anything else that has
happened in the past.
With how fast news travels today, many studies indicate that
the typical person does not even read past the headline of a news article or
commentary. When it comes to social media, statistics show that 60% of users
who share or engage with new stories do not read past the headline.
And when this is paired with recency bias, more people become misinformed on a daily basis. Leading
towards more arguments online, people further reinforcing their personal biases and becoming
emotionally attached to news events.
The 100 Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared
brilliantly touches on these themes through journey of an old man gallivanting through a
modern world that he is unsure of. Showing us just how much things have really changed
over the past few decades alone. As well as shedding light on how we perceive current
news and developments.
Conclusion
After watching The 100 Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the
Window and Disappeared it found it’s way onto my list of favourite
films of all-time. Not just foreign films. That’s how good I thought it was.
With such an original storyline, a hilarious plot and an
unbelievable walk down memory lane; the Swedish film more than impressed me.
The 100 Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared
did a great job of telling a great black comedy while taking you on a hilarious
adventure.
If you find yourself looking for a classic comedy to watch,
look no further than this one. It’ll surprise you in more ways than one. Enjoy.
