In Order of Disappearance (Kraftidioten)

Director:	Hans Petter Moland
Country:	Norway
Year:	2014
Running Time:	116mins
Principle Cast:	Stellan Skarsgard	Nils
	Bruno Ganz	Papa
	Pal Sveere Hagan	Greven
	Birgitte Hjort Serensen	Marit
	Jakob Oftebro	Aron Horowitz

Described as ‘hugely enjoyable, gruesome, ingenious, brilliantly-cast pitch black comedy set against the hugely cinematic snow covered landscape of a rural winter’[4] If you found the Jo Nesbo scripted Jackpot (2011) funny, your going to just love the extremely blacker than black humour of another Norwegian export The Order of Disappearance (2014). Certainly a revenge drama that unlike the subtle direction and handling of Alejandro Fernandez Almendras’s Chilean thriller To Kill a Man (2014) is nearer to the Death Wish (1974) and Fargo (1996) format of blood and gore.

Citizen of the year Nils Dickman drives the snowplough to keep the local roads clear. When the police inform Nils that his only son has died from a drug overdose he does not believe it and suspects that he has been murdered. He sets out to find the culprits, starting at the bottom rung of the drug cartel gradually getting to the truth but not before the body count increases. The local gang boss and health food fanatic Greven thinks that the Serbian gang, who share the local territory, are behind the sudden disappearance of his henchmen. This in turn starts a turf war that only Nils can bring to a successful but bloody conclusion.  

As well as the beautifully photographed snow covered scenery it’s the politically incorrect laugh out loud humour that carries the film. It was a good job we had undertitles because the laughter drowned out the dialog at times especially when every time someone was killed the screen went black and the victims name appeared along with his gang name and a cross denoting what religion the person was i.e. a Christian or Serbian Orthodox or Jewish - Star of David! Like most Nordic films the acting was superb with both Stellen Skarsgard and Bruno Ganz underplaying their roles to great affect. A cracking watch in which the two-hour’s just melted away.