A Swedish film about exactly what the title suggests. On his one hundredth birthday, Allan Karlsson decides to climb out of his bedroom window in the old folks’ home in which he now resides (after an incident with a fox and some dynamite…). With only a few coins in his dressing gown pocket, he purchases a bus ticket to an out of the way middle of nowhere kind of place. While waiting for his bus he is asked to hold onto a suitcase. The ‘owner’ is a young thug sorely in need of the use of the very small (too small for a suitcase) toilet facilities. Whilst the thug is in the loo, Allan’s bus arrives and, following the thug’s orders to ‘hold on to the suitcase and don’t let go’, off Allan goes, not just on a bus trip, but on a series of adventures, hooking up with a variety of new friends along the way.
The film has flashbacks to various points in Allan’s life where we find that he is well used to adventure and, at 100, nothing much fazes him. As the young thug and his fellow criminals attempt to regain possession of the suitcase, a bumbling policeman pursues Allan unaware of the mayhem that is also following the seemingly harmless old man.
An hilarious, fast-paced film where the main characters are well drawn and believable. Some of the other characters are over the top, but that is deliberate and adds to the comedic element. The mix of present and past is also conveyed well and dovetails together seamlessly. Overall, a great evening out.
The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed out the Window and Disappeared at IMDB
