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| Image Courtesy the Weinstein Company |
The remakes are too numerous to mention, but one recent example would be Speak No Evil, an American remake of the 2022 Danish horror film.
One franchise that also fits this pattern is The Girl With A Dragon Tattoo, based on Stieg Larsson’s Swedish noir novels. Swedish films based on the trilogy were made in the late ‘00s, and David Fincher released his remake of the first in 2011.
That series has been wildly successful, with subsequent film adaptions of later novels and even a different Swedish author continuing the trilogy after Larsson died. Fincher’s film definitely brought fans to the franchise and could be argued that it helped to make the franchise more successful.
Another Swedish crime/noir franchise that has been just as successful but without any American remake has been Snabba Cash, a trilogy of films and a more recent series based on the novels of Swedish crime novelist Jens Lapidus. The original film almost received a remake in 2010, thanks to Zach Efron wanting to produce and star in one. Luckily, this never happened, and the original received all the recognition on its own.
The 2010 Swedish film follows the tightly plotted story of three characters in Stockholm, all financially strapped and trying to get ahead. The idea of snabba cash (‘easy money’ in English) is the goal that ties and literally intertwines these characters throughout the film. JW is an intelligent finance student who drives a taxi at night in an attempt to have money to party with the Stockholm elite on the weekends. Joel Kinnaman won a Guldbagge (Swedish Oscar) for his portrayal of JW.
Abdulkarim, JW’s boss at the taxi service, gives the finance student some opportunities to make some extra cash, including picking up Jorge (Matias Varela), who recently escaped from prison. Jorge is a Chilean migrant who was imprisoned for his role in the cocaine business.
The Serbian mafia in Stockholm wants Jorge for his extensive knowledge of the cocaine business. So Serbian hitman Mrado (Dragomir Mrsic) is also sent to fetch Jorge, who could help the Serbians take over the cocaine trade.
JW initially loses Jorge, who is found by Mrado. The student later finds Jorge being beat up by Mrado, and finds a way to save Jorge. The Chilean ex-prisoner is nursed back to health in JW’s dorm room, where they somewhat become friends.
The story continues with JW creating a space for himself by using his knowledge of financial woes of the elite to help Abdulrakim and Jorge launder their cocaine money. The paths of JW, Jorge, and Mrado intersect quite literally throughout the rest of the film. Loyalties shift when the realities of the criminal underworld hit each of the three protagonists (Jorge, JW, and Mrado) in different ways.
Cinematographer Aril Wretblad won a Guldbagge for his artistic use of shaky cam and more naturalistic lighting in the film. This style could almost make Snabba Cash part of the Dogma 95 movement, a set of rules created by Danish directors Thomas Vinterberg (Another Round) and Lars von Trier (Dogville). The visual style and production match many (though not all) of these rules meant to create more grounded, realistic films and keep control of the production more in the hands of the directors.
The result is a naturalistic crime story with noir-ish elements that explores the class divide and the desire to get ahead. The film feels similar to Michael Mann’s Heat through its more naturalistic production and its use of the city itself as the set and lighting source.
Both Kinnaman and director Daniel Espinosa went on to star in and direct many different American films and series after this.
Two more films followed, using author Lapidus’ novels as inspiration and continuing the story of JW, Mrado, and Jorge.
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| Image Courtesy Netflix |
Similar themes and plots were used a decade later in the Netflix series of the same name. The first season follows two Syrian immigrants and a Swedish teenager all intersecting with each other while trying to get ahead.
Startup entrepreneur and mother single mother Lena (Evin Ahmad) gets further entwined with cocaine dealers while trying to make a good life for her son. Salim (Alexander Abdallah) is a wedding singer whose day job is working for local drug dealer, though he wants out of the criminal life. Swedish teenager Tim (Ali Alarik) stumbles into some easy money opportunities as a runner for Salim and his boss.
The ruthlessness of the cocaine trade and the startup business connect this trio of protagonists in a tight six-episode season, co-written by author Lapidus. The recent series continues the naturalistic filmmaking of the original film, making use of the industrial areas, forests, and boardrooms of Stockholm. The first season builds up to a drug shipment gone wrong, reminiscent of the bank robbery sequence from Mann’s Heat.
A second season was released last year, and a third season is slated to be released this year.
Like Mash, Fargo, Highlander, and The Gentlemen, Snabba Cash has proved its significance through its successful adaptation into an ongoing television series. Both the series and the original films dig into immigrant life, the struggle to get ahead, and class clashes that happen in big city life.
And all this success comes without getting the usual lackluster American remake.
- Eric Beach