The best Ulf Johanson’s movies

When disillusioned Swedish knight Antonius Block returns home from the Crusades to find his country in the grips of the Black Death, he challenges Death to a chess match for his life. Tormented by the belief that God does not exist, Block sets off on a journey, meeting up with traveling players Jof and his wife, Mia, and becoming determined to evade Death long enough to commit one redemptive act while he still lives.

The Queen of the Night enlists a handsome prince named Tamino to rescue her beautiful kidnapped daughter, Princess Pamina, in this screen adaptation of the beloved Mozart opera. Aided by the lovelorn bird hunter Papageno and a magical flute that holds the power to change the hearts of men, young Tamino embarks on a quest for true love, leading to the evil Sarastro's temple where Pamina is held captive.

Crotchety retired doctor Isak Borg travels from Stockholm to Lund, Sweden, with his pregnant and unhappy daughter-in-law, Marianne, in order to receive an honorary degree from his alma mater. Along the way, they encounter a series of hitchhikers, each of whom causes the elderly doctor to muse upon the pleasures and failures of his own life. These include the vivacious young Sara, a dead ringer for the doctor's own first love.

In the midst of a civil war, former violinists Jan and Eva Rosenberg, who have a tempestuous marriage, run a farm on a rural island. In spite of their best efforts to escape their homeland, the war impinges on every aspect of their lives.

Early in the 20th century, middle-aged lawyer Fredrik Egerman and his young wife, Anne, have still not consummated their marriage, while Fredrik's son finds himself increasingly attracted to his new stepmother. To make matters worse, Fredrik's old flame Desiree makes a public bet that she can seduce him at a romantic weekend retreat where four couples convene, swapping partners and pairing off in unexpected ways.

Dr. Jenny Isaksson is a psychiatrist whose temporary position at a mental hospital offers only modest responsibilities. With her husband out of the country for a seminar and her daughter at camp, Jenny moves in with her grandparents, expecting a relaxing few months. But it isn't long before unpleasant memories of her childhood, the sudden appearance of strange apparitions, and a near-rape push this otherwise stable woman to the very edge of sanity.

An artist in crisis is haunted by nightmares from the past on a windy island. Between midnight and dawn, he tells his wife about his most painful memories.

A small-town piano teacher is shocked by the arrival of her foster daughter's real mother, whose young lover soon follows and causes further disruption.

For her feature film directing debut, actress Mai Zetterling turned to Agnes von Krusenstjerna's controversial masterpiece of Swedish feminist literature, "The Misses von Pahlen," an intense and personal seven-part novel that has been likened to the great works of D.H. Lawrence. As three pregnant women from different backgrounds wait to have their babies in a hospital in Stockholm at the outbreak of the Great War, they relive their childhood and youthful experiences via individual flashbacks. Drawing on the classic Ingmar Bergman style of Swedish filmmaking and collaborating with many of his favorite actors as well as the great cinematographer Sven Nykvist, Zetterling had produced a powerful fusion of personal emotional drama and a commentary on the role of women in a society in moral decline.

The pretentious critic Cornelius is writing a biography on a famous cellist and to do some research he goes to stay in his house for a few days. He doesn't manage to get an interview with the man, but by talking to all the women who live with him, he comes to learn a lot about the musician's private life none the less. Cornelius then decides to use this information and tries to blackmail the cellist into performing a composition that he, Cornelius, has written. Written by Leon Wolters

Set in medieval times about the cursed Moonshield family. The young knight Erland Moonshield fall in love with a gypsy enchantress, Singoalla, he meet in the forest.

Maggi meets David after having missed her train, and they spend the night together. Penniless, the young lovers break into a summer cottage. The owner, Håkansson, offers to rent it to them, but he has an ulterior motive. By living together, they have to face their pasts and deal with the meddling neighbors and authorities.

An agent on the brink of bankruptcy finds a reluctant singing talent on a TV quiz show.

Because of an accident at a military drill the recruit Bengt loses his eyesight and becomes blind. He gets to live with relatives in the countryside and meets the young Ingrid. She falls in love with him but Bengt's bitterness also makes him blind to her attentions.

Set against the backdrop of the 1909 general strike, Hjördis is employed as a housemaid in a wealthy Stockholm family.

Two journalists marry each other but Tore is unhappy that his wife is ambitious in her career instead of their household.

Love triangle between Svante, his fiancee Inga and Sophie, a girl from a rich family.