''The Apple War'' () is a 1971 Swedish

comedy-drama film Comedy drama (also known by the portmanteau dramedy) is a hybrid genre of works that combine elements of comedy and drama. In film, as well as scripted television series, serious dramatic subjects (such as death, illness, betrayal, grief, etc. ...

directed by

Tage Danielsson Tage Ivar Roland Danielsson (; 5 February 1928 – 13 October 1985) was a Swedes, Swedish author, actor, comedian, poet and film director. He worked together with Hans Alfredson in the comedy duo Hasse & Tage. Early life Danielsson was bor ...

, starring

Gösta Ekman Hans Gösta Gustaf Ekman (; 28 July 1939 – 1 April 2017) was a Swedish actor, comedian, and director. Career Ekman was born in Stockholm, Sweden, to the Swedish actor and director Hasse Ekman and Agneta (née Wrangel). Ekman represent ...

Hans Alfredsson Hans Folke "Hasse" Alfredson (28 June 1931 – 10 September 2017) was a Swedish actor, film director, writer, and comedian. Born in Malmö, Sweden, he is known for his collaboration with Tage Danielsson as the duo Hasse & Tage and their produ ...

, Tage Danielsson,

Monica Zetterlund Monica Zetterlund (born Eva Monica Nilsson; 20 September 1937 – 12 May 2005) was a Swedish jazz singer and actress. She represented Sweden in the 1963 Eurovision Song Contest with the jazz ballad " En gång i Stockholm" ("Once Upon a T ...

and

Max von Sydow Max von Sydow (; born Carl Adolf von Sydow; 10 April 1929 – 8 March 2020) was a Swedish and French actor. He had a 70-year career in European and American cinema, television, and theatre, appearing in more than 150 films and several television ...

. The political theme of the film is the battle between nature on the one hand and

commercialisation Commercialisation or commercialization is the process of introducing a new product or production method into commerce—making it available on the market. The term often connotes especially entry into the mass market (as opposed to entry into ea ...

and

industrialisation Industrialisation ( UK) or industrialization ( US) is the period of social and economic change that transforms a human group from an agrarian society into an industrial society. This involves an extensive reorganisation of an economy for th ...

on the other set to exploit and ultimately destroy land and natural resources. The film can also be seen as an early criticism of

globalisation Globalization is the process of increasing interdependence and integration among the economies, markets, societies, and cultures of different countries worldwide. This is made possible by the reduction of barriers to international trade, th ...

as it depicts foreign, and large scale, capitalist investors and entrepreneurs as exploiters working side by side with domestic, small scale, capitalists. The songs in ''The Apple War'' are composed and written by

Evert Taube Axel Evert Taube (; 12 March 1890 – 31 January 1976) was a Swedish author, artist, composer and singer. He is widely regarded as one of Sweden's most respected musicians and the foremost troubadour of the Swedish ballad tradition in the 20th c ...

, who also makes a cameo in the film as the old man who dances with

at the end party, and while there also recites a part of one of his most famous songs, Calle Schewens vals, performed by the cast in the same scene at the end. Winner of three

Guldbagge Award The Guldbagge Awards (, ) is an official and annual Sweden, Swedish film awards ceremony honoring achievements in the Swedish film industry. Winners are awarded a statuette depicting a Cetonia aurata, rose chafer, better known by the name Guldbagg ...

s, ''The Apple War'' is a popular cult film in Sweden, and referred to as a " Hasse & Tage" film due to the creators Tage Danielsson and Hasse Alfredson.

Plot

A Swiss businessman wants to buy land in southern Sweden for a gigantic amusement park, his new project called "Deutschneyland" (a wordplay of

Deutschland Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen constituent states have a total population of over 84 m ...

and

Disneyland Disneyland is a amusement park, theme park at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California. It was the first theme park opened by the Walt Disney Company and the only one designed and constructed under the direct supervision of Walt Disney, ...

). Some of the locals dislike the idea, including the magically talented Lindberg family, and work to frustrate the development plans.

Cast

Per Grundén Per Gustaf Grundén (23 May 1922 – 6 February 2011) was a Swedish singer and actor. He spent a substantial part of his career performing in Vienna at the State Opera and the Volksoper. Later in his operatic career he moved from the romantic lea ...

as Jean Volkswagner *

as Sten Wall * Per Waldvik as Hans Nilsson *

Yvonne Lombard Yvonne Lombard (born 28 May 1929) is a Swedish actress. Born in Stockholm, Lombard studied at the Royal Dramatic Theatre ("Dramaten") there, where she trained between 1948 and 1951 with the likes of Max von Sydow and Ingrid Thulin. She has perfo ...

as Kerstin Gustafson * Sten Kärrby as Tore Gustafson *

as Anna Lindberg *

Håkan Serner John Gunnar Håkan Serner (1 September 1933 in Malmö – 25 October 1984 in Stockholm) was a Sweden, Swedish actor. Family He was nephew to Frank Heller, and stepfather to Malin Gjörup. Awards In 1977 Serner received the award for Guldbagge ...

as Eberhard Lindberg *

Hans Alfredson Hans Folke "Hasse" Alfredson (28 June 1931 – 10 September 2017) was a Swedish actor, film director, writer, and comedian. Born in Malmö, Sweden, he is known for his collaboration with Tage Danielsson as the duo Hasse & Tage and their produ ...

as Severin Lindberg *

Birgitta Andersson Ulla Birgitta Helena Andersson (born ''Andersson''; 20 April 1933) is a Swedish actress and comedian. Career Andersson made her breakthrough by acting in various variety shows with Povel Ramel and Karl Gerhard. She was part of the group aroun ...

as Luft-Hanna Lindberg * Anne-Marie Nyman as Agnes Lindberg * Nils Ahlroth as Gustav Lindberg / jätte * Nils Nittel as Bert Lindberg *

Mariette Fransson Mariette or Mariëtte may signify: ;Family name: *Auguste Mariette (1821–1881), pioneering Egyptologist. *Pierre-Jean Mariette (1694–1774), connoisseur and chronicler of artistic life in Paris ;Given name: *Mariette Bosch (died 2001), South Af ...

as Janet Lindberg /

skogsrå The Skogsrå ( ; ), Skogsfrun ('the Mistress of the Forest'), Skogssnuvan, Skogsnymfen ('the Forest Nymph'), Råndan ('the Rå') or Huldran, is a mythical female creature (or ''rå'') of the forest in Swedish folklore. It appears in the form of ...

Martin Ljung Martin Vilhelm Ljung (15 August 1917 – 30 September 2010) was a Swedish comedian, actor and singer.Martin Ljung
en ...

as Åke Lindberg *

as Roy Lindberg *

as Bernhard Lindberg *

Sture Ericson Sture Ericson (27 September 1912 – 15 March 1979) was a Swedish film actor. He was born in Salem, Sweden and died in Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most popu ...

as Larsson i Tofta * Ingvar Ottoson as Werner Affeman *

Gus Dahlström Gus Dahlström (6 November 1906 – 25 December 1989) was a Swedish film actor. He appeared in more than 60 films between 1942 and 1984. Partial filmography * ''Olycksfågeln nr 13'' (1942) − Gurra (uncredited) * ''Kvinnan tar befälet'' ...

as Film director *

Tomas Alfredson Hans Christian Tomas Alfredson (born 1 April 1965) is a Swedish film director who is best known internationally for directing the 2008 vampire film '' Let the Right One In'' and 2011 espionage film '' Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy''. Alfredson has ...

as Count *

Karl Erik Flens Karl Erik Flens (19 March 1913 – 17 October 1975) was a Swedish film actor. He appeared in 60 films between 1938 and 1975. Selected filmography * '' The Two of Us'' (1939) * '' The Fight Continues'' (1941) * '' How to Tame a Real Man'' ( ...

as Valfrid Paulsson

Songs by Evert Taube used in the soundtrack

In order: *"

Änglamark "Änglamark" is a Swedish song composed and written by Evert Taube for the movie The Apple War (Äppelkriget) in 1971. The song is sung in the movie's opening and ending credits by the composer's son, Sven-Bertil Taube. Instrumental variations of ...

" (instrumental; at the beginning of the film) *"Mirrabooka marsch" (instrumental) *"Solig morgon" (instrumental) *"

Sjösala vals Sjösala vals ("Waltz of Sjösala") is a Swedish waltz written in 1941 at Rejmyre by Evert Taube. It was recorded by Sven-Olof Sandberg in 1941 as B-side to his single ''Flicka från Backafall''. It was published in '' Sjösalaboken'' in 1942 du ...

" (hummed by a woman off camera) *"Calle Lång dansar portugis" (instrumental) *"Diktaren och Tiden" (instrumental) *"Julius och Mariella" (instrumental) *" Byssan lull" (instrumental) *" Möte i monsunen" (instrumental) *"Stockholmsmelodi", performed by

(recited) *"Pierina eller Blå anemonerna", performed by Thord Carlsson, Folke Eng, Lars Malgefors, Håkan Norlen and Lillemor Lysell *" Fritiof Anderssons paradmarsch" (instrumental) *"Bal på Skeppsholmen" (instrumental- "domino effect" sequence) *"Min älskling (du är som en ros)" (instrumental) *"

Nocturne A nocturne is a musical composition that is inspired by, or evocative of, the night. History The term ''nocturne'' (from French '' nocturne'' "of the night") was first applied to musical pieces in the 18th century, when it indicated an ensembl ...

" (instrumental - Herr Volkswagner goes to sleep) *" Calle Schewens vals", performed by

Martin Ljung Martin Vilhelm Ljung (15 August 1917 – 30 September 2010) was a Swedish comedian, actor and singer.Martin Ljung
en ...

and

(at the outdoor wedding/summer party/picnic) *"Änglamark", performed by

Sven-Bertil Taube Sven-Bertil Gunnar Evert Taube (24 November 1934 – 11 November 2022) was a Swedish singer and actor. Internationally, he was perhaps better known for his acting career. Taube played Henrik Vanger in the film ''The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo'' ...

(at the end credits)

Reception

The film was the second highest-grossing film in Sweden released in 1971 behind ''

Emil i Lönneberga ''Emil of Lönneberga'' (from Swedish: ''Emil i Lönneberga'') is a series of children's novels, written by Astrid Lindgren in 1963, 1966 and 1970 respectively, about the prankster Emil Svensson who lives on a farm in the Lönneberga parish o ...

''.

Awards

The film won the Swedish Film Institute's

("Golden Beetle") award in

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, ...

in three categories: *

Best Film The following is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various films, festivals, and people's awards. Best Actor/Best Actress *See Best Actor#Film awards, Bes ...

Best Director Best Director is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organizations, festivals, and people's awards. It may refer to: Film awards * AACTA Award for Best Direction * Academy Award for Best Director * As ...

- Tage Danielsson *

Best Actress Best Actress is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organisations, festivals, and people's awards to leading actresses in a film, television series, television film or play. The first Best Actress award ...

- Monica Zetterlund

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Applewar 1971 films 1971 comedy-drama films 1970s Swedish-language films Films directed by Tage Danielsson Best Film Guldbagge Award winners Films whose director won the Best Director Guldbagge Award Swedish comedy-drama films 1970s Swedish films Swedish-language comedy-drama films Films set in Sweden