Gosh, “The Boys from Brazil” is a wild ride—like truly bonkers. I remember seeing it for the first time in the late 80s, back när jag var ung och dum, and being just gobsmacked. It’s based on a novel by Ira Levin, and the premise alone is enough to knock your socks off. Imagine: old Nazis in South America, cloning Hitler. Yeah, let that sink in for a second!

I’ll be honest, the start drags a bit. It feels like they’re setting up this elaborate game of chess but with a few too many pawns cluttering the board. Gregory Peck as the villain, Dr. Mengele, is something else though. That man could read the phone book and still make it sound like a bondskurkan monologue. His performance is chilling—even more so when you contextualize it within his filmography. Like, Atticus Finch gone very, very wrong.

Then there’s Laurence Olivier playing Lieberman, a Nazi hunter. He’s got this quirkiness—part Sherlock Holmes, part, I dunno, an old grumpy Swedish farbror. He brings a layer of… charm, if you can call it that, to hunting down these sinister plots. But honestly, the real show-stealer is Steve Guttenberg. Guttenberg, folks! Before he became the Police Academy poster boy, he took on some serious stuff here. Gets you thinking about how versatile some actors really are.

One thing that struck me—especially rewatching it now in 2023—is how it handles themes of evil and morality. There’s a moment where Lieberman confronts one of the clones, and you sort of catch yourself pondering: Is evil born or made? In today’s society, with genetic editing and all that, it feels unnervingly relevant. Väldigt skrämmande, to be honest.

Speaking of unnerving, that opening score by Jerry Goldsmith really sets the tone. It’s creepy but in a way that sneaks up on you, like a mist rolling in over a Stockholm fjord on a chilly autumn morning.

Now, it’s not all roses. Some of the scenes feel dated, and the special effects are what you’d expect from the late 70s. Also, it dips into melodrama occasionally—I mean, we’re talking Nazis and clones here. But for the most part, it’s a solid thriller that keeps you guessing, even if it makes you squirm a bit.. check out the trailer