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Sweden’s famous 100-year-old set for action-packed sequel

Filming is under way for the hyped sequel to Swedish Oscar-nominated movie 'The 100-year-old man who climbed out of the window and disappeared'.

Published: 9 June 2016 15:15 CEST
Sweden's famous 100-year-old set for action-packed sequel
Robert Gustafsson and Iwar Wiklander in 'The 100-year-old man...' Photo: Music Box Films

Based on a novel by the same name by author Jonas Jonasson, the 2013 film – released internationally in 2015 – saw Robert Gustafsson play Allan Karlsson, 100, who escapes his retirement home and embarks on a roadtrip adventure involving gangs of criminals, large sums of cash… and an elephant.

The huge international hit became Sweden's highest-grossing film of all time and was nominated for an Academy Award for best hair and makeup earlier this year.

Filmmakers are now working on turning the massive success into a sequel, and excitement was high among fans when the actors revealed new details about the film – called 'The 101-year-old man who dodged the restaurant bill and disappeared' – at a press gathering this week.

READ ALSO: Seven novels that will change the way you view Sweden


Iwar Wiklander and Robert Gustafsson, who both star in the movie. Photo: Thomas Johansson/TT

The sequel kicks off on Bali, where adventurous retiree Allan Karlsson is relaxing with his friends, living off the money they stole from a gang of Swedish mobsters in the previous film.

But their millions are slowly running out.

“We are bad at living luxuriously. Newly rich people are bad at wasting money in that tasteful kind of way, and instead burn the money irresponsibly,” the star of the movie, Gustafsson, told reporters.

The crew are currently shooting in Trollhättan in western Sweden, and are set to head to both Hungary and Thailand. Much of the plot remains secret, but gangsters, the CIA and a soft drink brand will all play a part.

“The difficult thing about continuing things like this is to strike the right balance between surprise and familiarity. People probably want to see some flashbacks from Allan's old life, but we obviously can't use the same flashbacks we used in the previous movie,” director Måns Herngren told public broadcaster SVT.

One of the fans' main fears is that the title character will eventually pass away of his admittedly very old age.

“He may, we'll see,” Gustafsson said unhelpfully.

But he added: “When I was little 100-year-olds were something that attracted attention, it was a big deal. Today it's nothing. I think there are soon half a million of them… so 110 years would be reasonable, at least.”

The movie will be released on Christmas Day in Sweden.

READ ALSO: The Swedish town with the most 100-year-olds

HEALTH

World’s oldest man dies aged 113 in Spanish village where he lived his whole life

The world's oldest man, a Spaniard from a village near Badajoz, has died at the grand old age of 113.

Published: 30 January 2018 10:50 CET
World's oldest man dies aged 113 in Spanish village where he lived his whole life
Marchena lived to the ripe old age of 113. Photo: http://gerontology.wikia.com/

Francisco Núñez Olivera died on Monday morning.

He born on December 13th 1904 in the village of Bienvenida in Badajoz, in the region of Extremadura, western Spain.

Francisco – known as Marchena – fathered four children, nine grandchildren and 15 great-grandchildren. He became the world's oldest man in August on the death of Yisrael Kristal, a holocaust survivor who lived to the age of 113 years and 330 days.

He had been a widower since 1988 and his two sons have died but he lives with his eldest daughter, María Antonia, 81, and near his other daughter Milagros, 78.

He spent his last birthday when he turned 113 with Maria Antonia where he started the day with cake for breakfast and then read birthday cards sent to him from around the world.

READ MORE: World's oldest man celebrates 113th birthday in Extremadura

“He will be missed by everyone,” said Antonio Carmona, the mayor of Bienvenida, the town where Marchena lived his whole life.

 He will be buried on Tuesday and will be given an official sent off in the town where a day of mourning has been declared.

READ: Want to know the secret to long life? Live in Spain

He put his longevity down to “good genes”, “hard work” and a varied diet of homegrown vegetables. He also enjoys a daily glass of red wine.

His brother Luis, who lives in Asturias, is 95 and his sister Jacoba, who also lives in Bienvenida, is 93.

“I worked in the fields all my life,” he told El Mundo last year.

His ID says he was born on September 13th 1904 but his daughter says he is actually three months younger and was born on December 13th.

He was ten years old when the First World War broke out and in the 1920s he fought against the Berbers in Morocco during the Rif War between Spain and its North African neighbour. 

His secret to such a long life, he said was “to work hard. To not be weak and stay in the house.”

His daughter added a few more reasons as to why her father may have lived such a long life, including “a gentle routine in a quiet village, being his own boss, not arguing with the family and enjoying the good life – that revolved around the field, his house and the village bar.”

He also had a varied diet despite not having had his own teeth for four decades, she explained.

His daily food consisted of milk and madeleines (a light sponge cake) for breakfast with an Actimel. Meat, fish or stew for lunch, yoghurt for an afternoon snack and special cereal with milk for dinner.

Speaking last year he said he had enjoyed good health until he needed a kidney removed when he was 90, a cataract operation aged 98 and was hospitalized for a urinary infection when he was 108. He claims to have never broken a bone and to have perfect blood pressure.

While Francisco had the records to prove his age, they are not the originals – which were burned during the Spanish Civil War.

Spaniards have one of the highest life expectancies in the world, which is often attributed to the Mediterranean diet and traditional slower pace of life. 

READ MORE: Six Spanish secrets on how to live to the age of one hundred

Spain is also home to Europe's oldest woman, Ana Vela Rubio, who celebrated her 116th birthday in October.

But one Spaniard who lived to the ripe old age of 107 did so on a diet that consisted mainly of… red wine. 

The world's oldest human is currently Nabi Tajima of Japan who was born on Aug. 4, 1900 and is currently 117 years old.