Hundraåringen som klev ut genom fönstret och försvann: The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared

On Allan Karlsson's (Gustafsson) 100th birthday, he climbs out the window in his room in the nursing home and heads to the train station.  Along the way he is handed a suitcase, which he takes on the train.  He ends up in the middle of nowhere with the suitcase.  He befriends Julius (Wiklander), who works at the train station.  Allan and Julius discover the suitcase contains 50 million dollars.  They decide to keep the money and hitch a ride with Benny (Wiberg), a career student.

The money belongs to Pim (Ford).  The young man who asked Allan to watch the suitcase works for Gaddan (Hulten).  Gaddan works for Pim, and is confined to his home by an ankle monitor.  Pim and Gaddan want the money back and track Allan and his friends.  The police, led by Chief Inspector Aronsson (Carlsson), are also looking for Allan.  As Allan remembers his exceptional life, he and his friends try to avoid their pursuers.  With Gunilla (Skaringer) and an elephant in tow, can they get away?


I discovered this Swedish film because it is nominated for an Academy Award for Best Makeup and Hairstyles.  Star Robert Gustafsson was 48 when this was filmed and has impressive makeup throughout to take him from 20s to 100 without looking ridiculous or garish.

Most of the film is in Swedish with subtitles, but the narration (and a few other scenes) are in English.  But don't let that stop you from seeing the film.  Gustafsson is a charismatic lead.  He is entertaining and you want to know what will happen next.  The rest of the cast are entertaining as well.

The story is based on the Swedish novel with the same title by Jonas Jonasson.  The book was published in 2010 and quickly became a bestseller.  It was published in English in 2012.  I haven't read the book, but based on the plot synopsis online, it looks like the film stayed pretty true to it.  It is an interesting story that keeps you guessing.

Check out this quirky comedy.

Hundraåringen som klev ut genom fönstret och försvann [The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared] (2013) 112 minutes
Rating: R for language and some violence
Director: Felix Hengren
Starring: Robert Gustafsson as Allan Karlsson
Iwar Wiklander as Julius
David Wiberg as Benny
Mia Skaringer as Gunilla
Jens Hulten as Gäddan
David Shackleton as Herbert Einstein
Ralph Carlsson as Chief Inspector Aronsson
Alan Ford as Pim