Top 200 Most Anticipated Films for 2014: #3. Ruben Östlund’s Tourist

Tourist

Director: Ruben Östlund
Writer: Ruben Östlund
Producers: Plattform Produktion’s Erik Hemmendorff (Bypass), Essential Film’s Marie Kjellson, Film i Vast
U.S. Distributor: Rights Available
Cast: Johannes Bah Kuhnke, Lisa Loven Kongsli, Vincent and Clara Wettergren, Brady Corbet

Lauded by international critics, cheered by film festival programmers (Cannes, TIFF, NYFF) and criminally overlooked by U.S. distribution companies, Ruben Östlund’s Play was a thorny, provocatively eye-poking social study that one could argue, belongs to a larger discussion that Haneke’s Code Unknown: Incomplete Tales of Several Journeys brought to the table. After The Guitar Mongoloid (2004), Involuntary (2008), for his fourth narrative feature, we think we might have a Swedish answer to Jeff Nichols’ Take Shelter, where indie film borrows from studio pedigree. Meaning a disaster film but with a bit more philosophical edge, Scandi noir humor and plenty of snow (the filmmaker revealed to us in our interview with him that he began making skiing docs). We can’t wait to hit the slopes for this one.

Gist: This is about a happy Swedish family — father (Johannes Bah Kuhnke), mother, two kids — holidaying in the French Alps. An avalanche sparks a spontaneous act of cowardice from the father, who can’t understand why he reacted that way.

Release Date: Shooting on the film began in France in March of last year and we think that this has sufficient time in post for a Cannes showing. The question is: what section will it land? Word is it’ll be released in Sweden sometime during the fall (just before ski season).

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