Review of Bang (1977)
Seen in 2018.
This review refers to the original cut, not the 2021 director’s cut.
A chemistry teacher with an interest in music goes through a mid-life crisis.
Packed with ideas, many of them underdeveloped, with occasional comedic skits to liven things up. Without Cinemateket’s excerpt of Troell’s writing on the film, I would have been lost in several scenes. I would have preferred a stronger focus on the pastoral theme of urban alienation versus more rural childhood memories, and the contrast of Ulf Palme’s character. The shot of Håkan Serner’s sad-looking penis is absolutely gratuitous, as the genre requires.
References here: “Ett par dagar i november med Jan Troell” (2021).