ONE MAN MADE A DIFFERENCE.
In 1973, Harald Edelstam (Michael Nyqvist), the Swedish ambassador in Santiago, watches Pinochet grab power and tries to help the new dictator’s enemies escape certain death. The story of “Chile’s Raoul Wallenberg” deserves a movie, but not such a tepid one. The filmmakers depict Edelstam’s heroics in straightforward fashion, but never really work up a genuine feeling for what happened in Chile at the time. Nyqvist’s wooden performance is a major liability and it doesn’t help that everyone has to speak English even though they’re struggling.
2007-Sweden-Denmark-Mexico. 95 min. Color. Widescreen. Directed by Ulf Hultberg. Cast: Michael Nyqvist (Harald Edelstam), Lumi Cavazos (Ana Contreras), Kate del Castillo (Consuelo Fuentes), Lisa Werlinder, Daniel Giménez Cacho, Carsten Norgaard… Patrick Bergin.
Trivia: Swedish title: Svarta nejlikan.
