Suzanne Osten’s classic, which won a Guldbagge for Best Direction, is both a wildly entertaining farce and a sharp critique of the cultural elite and the “man of culture.”

The opera’s production of Mozart’s Don Giovanni is on the brink of complete collapse when director Walter (Etienne Glaser) turns the traditional opera house’s conventions upside down. His unconventional ideas and working methods are met with increasing resistance from the opera house staff, who argue that one cannot ignore traditions and expectations. The theme is typical of Osten, who throughout her artistic career has challenged both the audience’s and participants’ perceptions. Interestingly, this is also the film that Olof Palme watched on the same night he was assassinated.

Eva Conradzon