Conny Rundqvist is back. 36 years after Björn Skifs played the imaginative chemistry teacher who had to prove his own innocence after being imprisoned for murder, Filip Berg takes over the iconic role.
The new film premieres on Netflix on October 3.
Although Filip Berg, 39, is too young to have been imprisoned by "Strul" when it happened, he likes the type of action comedies that came out at the end of the 1980s.
Many of the Swedish films that came out then were a bit elevated. There was a playfulness, that you dared to take out the swings a bit. I have a strong relation to that. God, it was wonderful to put on such a film and fly into a fantasy world for a while, he says.
The basic premise remains
The new film has retained the basic premise, but Filip Berg's character is not a teacher but works at an appliance store when he suddenly becomes suspected and wrongly convicted of murder.
But thanks to a tunnel in the prison laundry, he can escape and sneak back into the prison to hunt for the real murderer – with the help of a police officer, played by Amy Deasismont.
That it became a somewhat new story was important for director Jon Holmberg.
You want to make a film that is as whole and good as possible. I hope that those who sit and watch it will be carried away and see this film – and not sit and check off and compare with the original, he says.
Skifs in a cameo
But one thing remains from the original film – Björn Skifs. The artist appears in a scene in a so-called "cameo role".
He thought it was fun. I don't know how much I can say, but he is included and it becomes a meta-meeting between Conny and Conny, says Jon Holmberg.
But it was close to not becoming a film at all. Just when the project was about to start, former co-producer Viaplay pulled the handbrake and stopped production due to economic reasons.
After a few nervous days of uncertainty, Netflix stepped in and saved the production.
Filip Berg describes Viaplay's decision as pulling the rug from under.
I was aware that it wouldn't happen. Or that it might happen in a year and a half. And then maybe Netflix would want to bring in some cooler comedian, he says with a smile.
But when it was finally clear, we started up on all cylinders immediately.
"Strul" had its cinema premiere in 1988, directed by Jonas Frick after a script by Bengt Palmers and Björn Skifs. Skifs also played the lead role, along with Gunnel Fred, Magnus Nilsson, Johan Ulveson, and Stefan Sauk in the cast. The film was seen by 917,000 cinema visitors.
The new "Strul" is directed by Jon Holmberg. In addition to Filip Berg and Amy Deasismont, the cast also includes Eva Melander, Måns Nathanaelson, and Sissela Benn.
