PUBLICITY
PHOTOS
VIEW
PREMIERE PHOTOS FROM BERLINALE
STELLAN'S
PERFORMANCE:
"Moland’s film could hardly be more beautiful. It captures the essence
of a long-gone summer when everything looked, smelled – and was – good.
It encapsulates the cold, the darkness, the harried moments, and the
melancholy of bygone days and bygone chances. The cast, jam-packed with
Scandinavian acting nobility, shine. In trusty Swede Skarsgård,
Mr Norway has once again found an undisputable lead, perhaps even a
Bear-worthy one. His line about 'not hitting that man in Karlstad' is
pure Stellan by starlight." ...Jan Lumholdt,
Cineuropa
"A ravishing and evocative exploration of the past. Quite probably the
majority of public recognition actor Stellan Skarsgård receives
is due to his forays into Hollywood, from dispensing advice to an
Avenger to gyrating alongside Meryl Streep as they sing Abba songs.
Of course, Skarsgård is capable of excellence, which he ably
demonstrates in Hans Petter Moland’s ravishing Ut og stjæle hester.
...Oliver Johnston, The Up Coming (UK)
"'Out Stealing Horses' has so much scenery and texture, falling
snow, rushing rivers, and rugged log cabins, that you nearly forget to
look at the humans at the centre of the story. Stellan Skarsgard's
craggy face recalls the memories of childhood, and for a time it holds,
but the film goes on for too long." ...Shubhra Gupta,
Indian Express
"Hans Petter Moland’s loving film adaptation effectively plays lush
visual storytelling against its characters’ desolate interiors. The
result is a heartfelt, attractive arthouse item that ought to travel as
widely as its much-translated source novel, boosted by the
internationally familiar presence of Stellan Skarsgård
in the lead role of 67-year-old widower Trond, who retreats into painful
childhood memories when he relocates to the remote Norwegian
countryside. This is delicate, internalized drama, easier to realize on
the page than on the screen, though both Skarsgård
and Jon Ranes, a solemnly impressive newcomer, do a fine job of
portraying Trond’s changing awareness at different ages, the
performances aligned in their tense, sorrowful body language." ...Guy
Lodge, Variety
"For a story as concerned with a single character's interior life, an
expressive actor is necessary to communicate the depth and range of
emotion without a ton of dialogue to work with. Skarsgard is
adept at conveying much — grief, regret, whimsy — with subtle movements
of his eyes... But the film's biggest star is the natural world that
cinematographers Thomas Hardmeier and Rasmus Videbaek capture lovingly
and at extended length. The film was shot in both rural Norway and in
Lithuania, and there's grandeur and elegance in the raging storms and
blowing trees of the woods and countryside." ...Sam Allard,
Cleveland Scene
"Though the voiceover does a lot of the heavy lifting to help us
understand exactly how Trond is feeling, Skarsgård delivers a
reliably compelling performance in the film’s most poignant moments.
It’s a welcome change of pace from whatever you’ve been binging on
Netflix recently. More than that, it’s a worthy meditation on the span
of a single life and all the moments of trauma, discovery and reflection
that color it." ....Lisa Trifone, Third Coast Reviews
"Skarsgård makes a thoughtful, reassuring first-person narrator.
His mobile features react to the people and things around him but he
never over-plays his hand... One of the pleasures of this extremely
sensual film is the way it elicits physical sensations in the viewer
through expressive camerawork, cutting and sound effects.' ...Deborah
Young, Hollywood Reporter
"Skarsgård as Trond is a man
that seems haunted by tragedy that don’t just leave a mark but carves
much deeper into his soul. The relationship with his father, mother and
friends that should be so simple – are extremely complicated. So much so
that Trond is in a small house trying to be small which is impossible
for this very tall actor. Skarsgård
is such a treasure of an actor and in this film his role makes that
memory process painful yet needed." ...Jeri Jacquin, Military Press
"Stellan Skarsgård does an excellent job of sulking, although his
role is little more than a pivotal supporting one. Tobias Santelmann is
probably the biggest standout as the father of Skarsgård’s character
appearing in flashbacks. The movie is also quite impressive
aesthetically. The cinematography by Rasmus Videbæk is breathtakingly
gorgeous despite the often somber subject matter of the film. ..Movie
Critic Sean Boelman
Moland contrasts the two stories brilliantly, evoking the life of the
elderly Trond in the frozen, bitter and lonely Nordic winter and the
young Trond, in a forest full of life, hope, and sunshine, where even
the summer rain is warm enough to shower in... Stellan Skarsgård
is of course excellent as the tormented older Trond, haunted not only by
the death of his wife but also the events of his childhood. Everything
is kept within, underneath the surface, and understated. ...Andy
English, Live for FIlm
"'Out Stealing Horses" is one of those almost-perfect small foreign
films. It is a haunting tale of life with all its deceits, guilt and
quiet longing. Skarsgård, however, is completely perfect. His
older Trond has accepted all that life has brought his way. He even
tells us at the beginning of the film “If you were to hear how my life
went, you would hear my life went well. I was lucky.” He feels no guilt
or remorse, and Skarsgård conveys these sentiments softly through his
actions. ...Jean Kaplan, Kaplan vs. Kaplan
"Skarsgård is, as might be expected, reticent here but not
grumpy, and manages the silences really well. His younger self, Jon
Ranes, gives a very good performance as the confused and disappointed
adolescent; it’s quite amazing that this is his first film role."
...Marie O'Sullivan, The Movie Aisle
"Literary novels, driven by ideas and characterizations rather than
propelled principally by plot, often don’t translate well to film. 'Out
Stealing Horses' is the rare exception... Skarsgård has rarely
been better, and teenage newcomer Jon Ranes, as his younger counterpart,
is quite the find — boyish but with a great capacity for melancholy.
...Bruce Steele, Mountain Xpress
"Moland and Skarsgård have a unique bond and as filmmaker and
actor. They seem to have found that rare magic that perfectly pairs
actor and director on interesting cinematic projects... 'Out Stealing
Horses' has moments of Malick-esque beauty fueled by deep-rooted
emotion. It is a film tinted with nostalgia but one that goes for a
deeper humanistic core." ...Anthony Francis, Screen Comment
Moland and Skarsgård get this
story in their bones, and have the chops to take a delicate human-scale
masterpiece and avoid it turning into a farrago of mixed-up plots.
Tobias Santelmann makes you think of an Ingmar Bergman film, with all
the arched brows, and echo of few words. Thus Moland wields his
directorial power like a chainsaw here. Skarsgård’s
embedded time-crossed character is at once hewn into usefulness as a
plot device, but carved into a performance that needs a better word than
transcendent." ... Quendrith Johnson, LA Correspondent
"Skarsgård is great at playing characters who are emotionally
stuck in life. Since he’s so expressive, he doesn’t have to say much,
which is good considering Trond is one of those characters who really
doesn’t know what to say." ...David J. Fowlie, Keeping-it-reel.com
"As the older Trond looking back on his younger years, Skarsgård
does a fine job as someone coming to terms with his past. By the end of
the movie, it’s very clear why Trond has spent most of his life
suppressing his emotions and why he has reached a point where he wants
to become a recluse." ...Carla Hay, Culture Mix
"This is certainly dark by coming-of-age standards, but no less hopeful
in spirit... As usual, Skarsgard gives a solid, nuanced
performance of an older man reflecting on his not-so rose-tinted past.
...Ben Wasserman, Film-Forward
Hans
Petter Moland
