Package Tour

Stig-Helmer is Swedish, shy, and not much happens in his life. He books a package tour to the Canary Islands for Christmas. The plane is full; everyone wants to get acquainted and he talks to nobody. His room at the hotel does not face the pool. He ends up at a table with Ole, a Norwegian who never stops talking. The programme runs its course: coach excursions, a folk dance display, a camel ride and compulsory fun. At every step Stig-Helmer lands in something embarrassing. There is also a woman, and he wants to say something to her. Lasse Åberg directs and plays Stig-Helmer himself. Jon Skolmen plays Ole; Lottie Ejebrant and Kim Anderzon are in the cast. It is a Swedish production, made in 1980. The film was a large box office success in Sweden and sequels followed; the series became a classic there. The humour rests on embarrassment; the joke comes not from a man failing but from how he sees himself. The narrative takes the package holiday industry and compulsory cheer as its direct subject. The difference between the Swedish and the Norwegian character is a source of comedy inside it. The film is little known outside Scandinavia but its lines passed into everyday speech in the region. The narrative proceeds in pieces and builds no plot. Its limit is accessibility; the jokes belong to their period and culture and some of it is lost in translation. Who it is for: viewers who like Scandinavian comedy and holiday films. Who it is not for: it is old, episodic, and the humour local.