The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared (Hundraåringen som klev ut genom fönstret och försvann in Swedish) is a 2013 comedy film directed by Felix Herngren. It is based on a 2009 novel by Jonas Jonasson of the same name. The film was shown at the Berlinale Special Gala section of the 64th Berlin International Film Festival.

The movie was released in over 40 countries and earned more than US$50 million. This made it the third most successful Swedish film ever, after The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Män som hatar kvinnor) and The Girl Who Played with Fire (Flickan som lekte med elden).

The film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Makeup and Hairstyling at the 88th Academy Awards. A sequel titled The 101-Year-Old Man Who Skipped Out on the Bill and Disappeared was released in 2016.

Plot

In 2005, Allan Karlsson (Robert Gustafsson) lives alone with his pet cat, Molotov, as his only companion. When Molotov is killed by a fox, Allan becomes angry and uses dynamite to blow up the fox. This action causes the authorities to move him to a retirement home in Malmköping. On the same day as his 100th birthday celebration, Allan climbs out of a window and leaves the home, walking to the bus station with the goal of traveling as far as possible. While waiting for the bus, a young man dressed in a skinhead style (Simon Säppenen) demands that Allan watch his suitcase while he uses the restroom. When the bus arrives, Allan takes the suitcase and travels to a remote area called Byringe. By the time Allan leaves Malmköping, his caregivers have told the police about his disappearance, and Inspector Aronsson (Ralph Carlsson) is investigating, unaware that Allan has the suitcase.

In Byringe, Allan meets Julius Jonsson, a lonely person who helps him fight off gangsters who are chasing him because the suitcase belongs to them. While escaping, Allan and Julius get a ride from Benny, a nervous young man, and all three travel to a small farm where Gunilla lives with her pet elephant, Sonja. The gangsters face individual accidents that lead to their deaths, except for Gäddan, their violent leader, who loses his memory after an accident and joins the group.

Parts of the film show events from Allan’s life through flashbacks. As a child, Allan’s father invents the condom, which the Swedish monarchy considers disrespectful. Angry, Allan’s father travels to Russia after the Russian Revolution to support his invention but is later executed by a firing squad. When Allan is young, his sick mother dies, and her final words to him are to avoid thinking or speaking too much. She tells him, “That is what it is, and that it will be what it will be.”

As a young man, Allan is sent to a mental hospital after accidentally blowing up a local butcher who cheated his mother. After being released, he works at a cannon factory and befriends Esteban, a Spanish revolutionary. Esteban convinces Allan to join him in Spain to fight against Francisco Franco’s Nationalist regime. Esteban is killed quickly, reminding Allan of his mother’s warning about talking too much. Allan’s skills with explosives help the Republican forces by destroying bridges. However, before destroying one bridge, Allan loses interest in explosives and decides to leave. Moments before the bridge is destroyed, General Franco’s car arrives, and the explosion happens seconds after Allan stops the car, making Allan appear as a hero. Franco invites Allan to a dinner and gives him his favorite pistol as a gift for saving his life.

Years after the Spanish Civil War, Allan sells the pistol to buy a work permit to travel to America. When he learns about the development of the world’s largest bomb, Allan’s interest in explosives returns, and he helps Robert Oppenheimer (Philip Rosch) create the atomic bomb. For his work, Allan receives praise from U.S. Vice President Harry S. Truman (Kerry Shale) for “building a bomb that will stop all wars.” During a drunken dinner, Truman is told by phone that President Franklin D. Roosevelt has died, and Truman is sworn in as president immediately.

Allan returns to Sweden but is met by government representatives who want to use his knowledge about the atomic bomb. They do not believe Allan, who never went to college, could have played a major role in the bomb’s development and stop questioning him. Later, a man named Popov befriends Allan, gets him drunk, and takes him to Moscow. During a party with Joseph Stalin, Allan accidentally says he saved Franco’s life, angering Stalin, who sends Allan to a Siberian labor camp.

The story continues with Allan traveling to other countries and meeting many people, both famous and ordinary, in ways that have been compared to the character Forrest Gump. The events from Allan’s past and his recent adventures eventually come together. The police stop searching for Allan, not knowing he is connected to the missing suitcase and money. With the help of Popov’s son, Oleg, Allan and his friends settle into a peaceful life in Bali.

Cast

• Robert Gustafsson plays the role of Allan Karlsson
• Iwar Wiklander plays the role of Julius
• David Wiberg plays the role of Benny
• Mia Skäringer plays the role of Gunilla
• Jens Hultén plays the role of Gäddan
• Bianca Cruzeiro plays the role of Caracas
• Alan Ford plays the role of Pim
• Sven Lönn plays the role of Hinken
• David Shackleton plays the role of Herbert Einstein
• Georg Nikoloff plays the role of Popov
• Sibylle Bernardin plays the role of Amanda Einstein
• Koldo Losada plays the role of Francisco Franco
• Kerry Shale plays the role of Harry S. Truman
• Philip Rosch plays the role of Robert Oppenheimer
• Algirdas Paulavicius plays the role of Joseph Stalin
• Sigitas Rackys plays the role of Mikhail Gorbachev
• Keith Chanter plays the role of Ronald Reagan
• Dagny Carlsson plays the role of an elderly woman

Reception

The movie The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared has a 68% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 80 reviews, with an average score of 6 out of 10. The overall opinion states: "Its attempts to be funny can feel clumsy, but for people who enjoy its unusual style of humor, the film has many positive qualities." On Metacritic, the movie has a score of 58 out of 100, based on 15 critics, which means "reviews are mixed or average."