The King of Ping Pong

The King of Ping Pong (Swedish: Ping-pongkingen) is a 2008 Swedish film directed by Jens Jonsson, who also co-wrote the film with Hans Gunnarsson. The film revolves around a dysfunctional family, including a teenager Rille. It was featured and won two awards at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival. It received mostly positive reception.

The King of Ping Pong
Theatrical release poster for Ping-pongkingen
Directed byJens Jonsson
Written byJens Jonsson
Hans Gunnarson
Produced byJan Blomgren
StarringGeorgi Staykov
Ann-Sofie Normi
Frederik Nilsson
Jerry Johansson
CinematographyAskild Vik Edvardsen
Edited byKristofer Nordin
Music byMartin Willert
Release dates
  • 18 January 2008 (2008-01-18) (Sundance)
  • 8 February 2008 (2008-02-08) (Sweden)
Running time
107 minutes
CountrySweden
LanguageSwedish

Plot summary

Taking place in northern Sweden, the film is about obese teenager Rille who loves to play ping pong, in which he wins against younger kids. While not playing table tennis, he has to deal with bullies and his younger sibling. Their mother tries to start a hairdressing operation from her home during her children's spring break. The father gets his children into all sorts of bizarre situations, which prompts Rille to wonder if the man really is their father.[1]

Production

The film was written by the director Jonsson and Hans Gunnarsson. Askild Vik Edvardsen was the cinematographer and Josefin Åsberg was the production designer.[2] Justin Lowe wrote for the Associated Press that Jonsson and Gunnarson "keep the film's slightly off-kilter comedy reinforced by occasional visual puns" and that "Cinematographer Askild Vik Edvardsen bathes the proceedings with wintry-filtered light that's well suited to the sedate camerawork".[1] The camerawork was compared to that of Roy Andersson by the International Film Festival Rotterdam.[3]

Release

It competed in the World Cinema Dramatic Competition at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival where it received the Grand Jury Prize: World Cinema and the World Cinema Cinematography Award.[4]

Reception

Rob Hunter, writing for Film School Rejects, gave the film a B−, saying, "An interesting and peculiarly Swedish take on the coming-of-age theme, the movie is worth watching for folks with patience".[5] The film received 3 and half stars out of five from VPRO.[6]

References
  1. Lowe, Justin (March 6, 2008). "The King of Ping Pong". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved April 11, 2017.
  2. "Josefin Åsberg". British Film Institute. Archived from the original on December 3, 2017. Retrieved 2 December 2017.
  3. "The King of Ping Pong". International Film Festival Rotterdam. Archived from the original on April 11, 2017. Retrieved April 11, 2017.
  4. "The King of Ping Pong". BOB Film Sweden. Archived from the original on 2015-02-15. Retrieved April 11, 2017.
  5. Hunter, Rob (February 26, 2009). "Foreign Objects: The King Of Ping Pong (Sweden)". Film School Rejects. Retrieved September 17, 2023.
  6. "The King of Ping Pong". VPRO (in Swedish). Retrieved April 11, 2017.
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