Simon Staho
Encyclopedia
Mikael Persbrandt
Mikael Åke Persbrandt is a Swedish actor. In Swedish films he usually has lead roles and “tough guy” parts. He is perhaps most famous for his recurring role as the no-nonsense police officer Gunvald Larsson in the latest installment of the Martin Beck movies...
, Noomi Rapace
Noomi Rapace
Noomi Rapace is a Swedish actress. She is best known for her portrayal of Lisbeth Salander in the Swedish/Danish film adaptations of the "Millennium series": The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Girl Who Played with Fire and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest...
, Erland Josephson
Erland Josephson
Erland Josephson is a Swedish actor and author. He is best known to international audiences for his work in films directed by Ingmar Bergman, Andrei Tarkovsky, and Theodoros Angelopoulos.-Biography:...
, Lena Endre
Lena Endre
Lena Endre is a Swedish actress. She was born in Lidingö, Stockholm County, and grew up in Härnösand, Ångermanland and Trollbäcken, Tyresö. She had her breakthrough in the Swedish TV-series Varuhuset and Lorry in the 1980s. Since then she has acted in a number of TV-series and movies, both in...
, Lena Olin
Lena Olin
Lena Maria Jonna Olin is a Swedish actress.-Early life:Olin was born the youngest of three children, in Stockholm, Sweden. She is the daughter of actress Britta Holmberg and the director Stig Olin...
, Pernilla August
Pernilla August
Pernilla August is a Swedish actress, director and script-writer. Being one of Sweden's leading actresses and a long time collaborator with director Ingmar Bergman, she won the Best Actress Award at the 1992 Cannes Film Festival for her role in his The Best Intentions...
, Michael Nyqvist
Michael Nyqvist
Rolf Åke Michael Nyqvist is a Swedish actor. Educated at the School of Drama in Malmö, he became well known from his role as police officer Banck in the first series of Beck movies made in 1997. He is recently most recognized for his role in the internationally acclaimed Millennium series as...
, and Maria Bonnevie
Maria Bonnevie
Anna Maria Cecilia Bonnevie is a Norwegian-Swedish actress. She was born in Västerås, Sweden, but she grew up in Oslo, Norway. Her parents, both actors, are the Norwegian actress Jannik Bonnevie and Swedish actor Per Waldvik...
. In 2008 Staho was recipient of the Ingmar Bergman Travel Grant.
Staho’s feature film debut was with Vildspor/Wildside (1998), shot in Iceland
Iceland
Iceland , described as the Republic of Iceland, is a Nordic and European island country in the North Atlantic Ocean, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Iceland also refers to the main island of the country, which contains almost all the population and almost all the land area. The country has a population...
and starring Mads Mikkelsen
Mads Mikkelsen
' is a Danish actor.-Life and career:Mikkelsen was born in the Østerbro area of Copenhagen, the son of Bente Christiansen and Henning Mikkelsen, a cab driver. He is the brother of actor Lars Mikkelsen. After attending Århus Theatre School, he made his film debut in the movie Pusher...
. Variety wrote in its review: “A solidly crafted thriller with links to classic film noir, though the bleakly beautiful Icelandic settings invest this tale of friendship and betrayal with a distinct ambience. Intelligent and suspenseful fare.”
In 2002, Staho directed Nu/Now, a short film about a man whose marriage is destroyed when he has a secret homosexual relationship. The film was shot in black and white and stars Mads Mikkelsen and Mikael Persbrandt as the male lovers.
With a cast of Swedish actors, Staho directed Dag och Natt/Day and Night (2004), winner of the Silver Hugo Award in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
. Variety wrote in its review: “Set entirely within a car with a two-camera set-up, “Day and Night” is one of the most interesting films to have been made in Sweden for a long while. The drama is about the last day in the life of a man at the end of his rope. The film starts with a voice-over, telling the audience that on 11 September 2003, a man named Thomas committed suicide by shooting himself in the head. The rest of the movie depicts the day leading up to this act, with Thomas (Mikael Persbrandt, in a career-defining role) meeting for the last time various people who in some way or another have meant something to him and in his life.”
Bang Bang Orangutang (2005), selected for the main competition at the San Sebastian International Film Festival, is a quirky and tragic-comic story about the endless humiliations of a power-drunk businessman trying to pick up the pieces of his destroyed life, after he has killed his youngest son in a car accident. The soundtrack features music by The Clash
The Clash
The Clash were an English punk rock band that formed in 1976 as part of the original wave of British punk. Along with punk, their music incorporated elements of reggae, ska, dub, funk, rap, dance, and rockabilly...
, Iggy Pop
Iggy Pop
Iggy Pop is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. Though considered an innovator of punk rock, Pop's music has encompassed a number of styles over the years, including pop, metal, jazz and blues...
, Dolly Parton
Dolly Parton
Dolly Rebecca Parton is an American singer-songwriter, author, multi-instrumentalist, actress and philanthropist, best known for her work in country music. Dolly Parton has appeared in movies like 9 to 5, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, Steel Magnolias and Straight Talk...
, Frankie Lymon
Frankie Lymon
Franklin Joseph "Frankie" Lymon was an American rock and roll/rhythm and blues singer and songwriter, best known as the boy soprano lead singer of a New York City-based early rock and roll group, The Teenagers. The group was composed of five boys, all in their early to mid teens...
, Arvo Pärt
Arvo Pärt
Arvo Pärt is an Estonian classical composer and one of the most prominent living composers of sacred music. Since the late 1970s, Pärt has worked in a minimalist style that employs his self-made compositional technique, tintinnabuli. His music also finds its inspiration and influence from...
and the Polish avantgarde composer Krzysztof Penderecki
Krzysztof Penderecki
Krzysztof Penderecki , born November 23, 1933 in Dębica) is a Polish composer and conductor. His 1960 avant-garde Threnody to the Victims of Hiroshima for string orchestra brought him to international attention, and this success was followed by acclaim for his choral St. Luke Passion. Both these...
.
In Daisy Diamond (2007), also selected for the main competition at the San Sebastian International Film Festival
San Sebastián International Film Festival
The San Sebastián International Film Festival is an annual FIAPF A category film festival held in the Spanish city of San Sebastián .-History:The festival was founded in 1953...
, Staho returned to a mostly Danish cast. The story deals with Anna (played by Noomi Rapace) who dreams of one thing only: making it as an actress. Without telling her family, she moves to Copenhagen to pursue her secret dream. But fate has something else in store for her. Anna becomes pregnant and has a baby girl. Though she struggles to give her daughter a good start in life, she ultimately fails to unite her dream of acting with a safe and loving environment for her child, culminating in a desperate act that has fatal consequences for Anna and her daughter.
Noomi Rapace won the two top film awards in Denmark (the Bodil and Robert prize) for Best Actress for her role in Daisy Diamond. According to Variety, “Rapace delivers a superbly committed performance in a demanding role, the actress having to expose herself physically and emotionally.”
In 2008, Staho directed Himlens Hjärta/Heaven's Heart (2008), selected for the Berlin International Film Festival
Berlin International Film Festival
The Berlin International Film Festival , also called the Berlinale, is one of the world's leading film festivals and most reputable media events. It is held in Berlin, Germany. Founded in West Berlin in 1951, the festival has been celebrated annually in February since 1978...
. A four character chamber drama that details a marital breakup, the story focuses on two middle-aged married couples as they confront their adulterous impulses. The film begins with an extended dinner party that quickly becomes a battleground over the meaning and value of marriage.
Variety praised Heaven’s Heart as “An intense film with an all-star cast. Raw emotion, fearless performances and stylized cinematography mark the film as prime festival fare. Compelling viewing.” The actress Maria Lundqvist
Maria Lundqvist
Maria Lundqvist is a Swedish actress.-Films and TV-series:*Svensson Svensson - The movie*Sally*Sjön*Före stormen*Familjehemligheter*Deadline*Paradiset*Kvinnor emellan...
won Best Supporting Actress for her role in the film at the Swedish film awards, the ‘Guldbagges'.
Staho’s latest film, Kärlekens Krigare/Warriors of Love (2009), is a contemporary version of Romeo & Juliet shot in black and white. The film is about two lesbian girls who chose to commit murder in order to save their love. It was selected for the Locarno International Film Festival 2009.
Director
- 1998 - Vildspor (aka Wildside)
- 2002 - Nu (aka Now)
- 2004 - Dag och natt (aka Day and Night)
- 2005 - Bang Bang Orangutang
- 2007 - Daisy Diamond
- 2008 - Himlens Hjärta (aka Heaven's Heart)
- 2009 - Kärlekens Krigare (aka Warriors of Love)