Jägarna (The Hunters), 1996

I watched Jägarna (The Hunters) yesterday, a 1996 Swedish film directed by Kjell Sundvall. It was fronted by Rolf Lassgård, Lennart Jähkel and Jarmo Mäkinen. The first time I saw Lassgård was in Efter Brylluppet, a Danish film by Susanne Bier. Jähkel was a good match for Lassgård. This is the first time I saw him and would like to see more of him. Mäkinen played the quintessential Finnish bad guy, as he usually does in a Swedish film. I wasn’t sure though if his character, Tomme, was meant to be Finnish.

Lassgård played Erik Bäckström, an experienced police officer who moved from Helsinki to his home village in Norrbotten, Northern Sweden. After his divorce, he decided to moved in with his brother, Leif (Lennart Jähkel), who had been looking after their parents’ estate after their dad passed away.

Erik was sent to investigate a few dead reindeer belonging to the local Sami or Lapp herders. He soon learned that the local police had been quite lax in their duty to stop what the herders thought was poaching.

Apparently the crime had been going on for quite some time and the police were turning a blind eye in order to preserve the peacefulness of the community. Erik soon found out that his dear brother Leif (Lennart Jähkel) was also involved in the crime.

Further incidents unravelled as the poachers tried to cover up their crime pushing them to commit more and more violence, all the while turning brother against brother as well as accidentally helping Erik to discover a family secret.

The story was set against some of the most breathtaking sceneries of Sweden. It rather reminded me of Lappland and a long-forgotten ambition I had about going fishing and camping by a fast running stream in the mountains of Scandinavia.


Due to Erik's great effort to make Leif feel comfortable with him again, as well as to his guilt for leaving his brother behind with theri abusive father, the relationship between the brothers, I thought, was bordering on homoeroticism.

I liked the way Leif’s innocent façade slowly unravelled as the story unfolded. His good-humoured younger-brother character slowly descended into a violent, impatient and arrogant person who would not hesitate to turn against his own kindred for selfish gains.

This is the most tragic part of the film: to meet a person you love after being apart for a long time and discover that he has changed into your enemy. It is simply heartbreaking.