Sometimes research can take one to interesting places. For instance: in researching details for this article, I come upon a genre known as “Scandi Crime,” or “Scandinavian Noir,” which is basically what it sounds like: crime or noir fiction from the Scandinavian countries. We Americans aren’t likely to recognize many of the significant names in the genre – people such as Henning Mankell, Mari Jungstedt, and Kjell Eriksson – but then there is Stieg Larsson, who is [bafflingly] famous for his “Millennium Trilogy,” or The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo trilogy. (The books are complete crap – skip them and go right for the movies, which are decent.)

All this to say that today’s topic falls in the genre of Scandi Noir: the Norwegian film Headhunters (Hodejegeme in the original language), adapted from the novel of the same name by Jo Nesbø and directed by Morten Tyldum.

Aksel Hennie stars as Roger Brown, a corporate headhunter with an interesting hobby: he is an art thief. While on assignment to find a candidate for a CEO position, Brown meets Clas Greve (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau), who is perfect for the job – and as an added bonus, he owns an original Rubens, which Brown decides to steal. Chaos ensues.

The film has received very positive reviews – currently holding a 92% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes – and so, naturally, a Hollywood remake is already in the works. See the original in theaters while you can!

Headhunters opens this weekend at Village 8 Theaters as the newest installment in the Louisville Exclusives Series. It is scheduled to play until Thursday, July 26 (this is subject to change).

Village 8 is located at 4014 Dutchmans Lane. Further theater information and showtimes can be found at the Village 8 website.

Image: Internet Movie Database