The Olsen Gang

Erik Balling's 1968 film launched one of the longest-running series in Danish cinema; thirteen more followed. Every time Egon Olsen comes out of prison he brings a new and flawless plan, and his friends Benny and Kjeld believe in it. In the first film the target is a famous artwork on display in a Copenhagen museum. The plan works, it genuinely works, and all the comedy of the series lives in what happens next. The films mock petit bourgeois life, family pressure and Danish institutions, with the robbery only providing the ground for it. The formula caught on so widely that Norway and Sweden made their own versions. It is now a classic of Scandinavian popular culture. Who it's for: viewers who like classic European comedy and heist films that turned into series. Who it's not for: anyone wanting tension and a realistic heist; the film stays entirely on the comic side.