Sven Klangs kvintett

Although this gem of Swedish, fictional jazz cinema has largely been forgotten, Sven Klang's Combo is a film worshipped by genre enthusiasts and voted by experts in 2012 among the 25 best Swedish films of all time. Stellan Olsson's sympathetic depiction of the late 1950s is no nostalgia trip but a study of the conflicts within a southern Swedish dance band. Made pleasantly in black-and-white, the film is based on a successful play of the Oktober group from Malmö. Christer Boustedt has not only composed the newer music for the film, but he also plays the capable saxophone player Lasse who comes from Stockholm to do his military service in a small town and joins the town's amateur band. A fan of Charlie Parker, Lasse would like to play jazz rather than dance tunes, "by the mood and not the notes". Gradually he wins over all the other musicians of the quintet except its leader Sven who sees music as business, contrary to his girlfriend who is the singer. Money, love, alcohol and pacifist ideology tear apart the internal relations of the band. Music is an essential part of the expression as the camera tracks sometimes-lengthy jamming sequences in long full shots. We get to enjoy jazz songs by Parker, Monk and Gillespie, as well as classics such as Over the Rainbow, Jailhouse Rock and Twilight Time. (Midnight Sun Film Festival)