Sven Klang's Combo

Thought by many to be one of the best ever films about the jazz environment, this follows the travails of the members of an amateur dance band that for a moment becomes a jazz group when a real jazzman, saxophonist Lars Nilsson (Boustedt) joins them, bringing with him (the year is 1958) the tang of Charlie Parker. Slowly, however, the group retreats from the inspiring but fearful world Lars has introduced them to - here, for once, the clichéd association of drugs and jazz works well - leaving Lars listening to the music in his head but stumbling through life. Ultimately, the film holds to the romantic view of creativity, but its virtues lie in director Olsson's careful (often very funny) observation of its characters and their worlds.