As a subgenre, the heist film is not a particularly common one. More than once I've set out to find a good heist flick and failed. In other words, listing the good ones won't take you all day as evidenced by a search here on IMDb or Google. It's welcome, then, that Fem mand falls among those heist films I'd put near the top of the list.
Directed by Sven Methling one wouldn't automatically assume Fem mand to be as good as it is. Not that Methling wasn't an able director, but perhaps because that's how you'd describe him - as able. Then again, making films in Denmark during the fifties, sixties and up to the early nineties must have been an exercise in sidestepping one crap project after another. And in that respect Methling by and large exonerates himself. That he two years later yet again forged a wonderful classic, the horror comedy Gys and Gæve Tanter, showed what he might have been able to do had he been born with a passport from a bigger country than Denmark. No matter.
At first glance, Fem mand might not be the obvious gem that it so truly is. I credit Methling and Boje's tightly crafted and economical script, and it's especially admirable as this is essentially an ensample cast who for large parts of the film is confined to a hospital room with only dialogue to hold the tension and move the plot forwards. But it works! Wonderfully!
As the premise is set up, we quickly understand that this heist movie is not to be taken all that seriously. Methling is at home here, having directed a slew of light comedies for the 'whole family' he knows when to let up for a laugh and when to go for the kill. We're in safe hands.
Although a film with an ensample cast, there's one character who stands above, and he has to for it all to work. Morten Grunwald is the hero here; in more than one sense. Although a criminal, a con man laid up with a broken leg and guarded by members of the Copenhagen Police Force right outside the doors of his and his fellow bedridden cohorts' hospital room, Smukke-Arne is a man with a heart of gold. And Grunwald is wonderful as Smukke which is lucky, because if he fails, the film fails. The rest of the cast, stalwarts of Danish films of the period, all do well, some more well than others - Judy Gringer was never a natural talent but her over-the-top delivery sort of works here in the guise of the titular Rosa, Smukke's better half and his, if not exactly equal, then certainly indispensable companion and a through and through professional who takes a backseat to no-one.
The characters in this neat black and white caper generally rise above what you could expect. Never dull or surplus to requirements.
But the real standout is the score by Ole Høyer. Mancini ain't got nothing on this dude! You'll be reminded of the Pink Panther theme, but in my opinion, Høyer does it better. More subtle and tense than Mancini, yet so melodically dense and elegant you'll be humming the theme for days after.
In the end, Fem mand og Rosa is a fast paced, fun little film that sits so neatly in the heist genre that it's a shame it won't be discovered by more people.
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