Out of an Old Man’s Head

On his way home to the run-down shack, Johan is suddenly buried under a pile of car tires tossed by an oblivious man. The tires trap him and hinder his escape while he cries for help. For a long moment, no one around notices his plight.

His pleas are ignored by everyone except a single drunk passerby. The drunk is eventually detained by the police when he tries to call for assistance. Johan remains hidden beneath the tires, hoping someone will notice.

At night, a young couple making love on the tire pile spots Johan and pulls him free. They struggle to get him upright and carry him back toward his home. He is badly hurt in the leg, and the realization that he cannot care for himself grips him.

After the incident, Johan is taken to a retirement home and begins to accept that he can no longer manage on his own. He spends his days in a wheelchair, gazing out the window and mumbling about his past. The home becomes the frame for his memories and long reflections.

Johan grows up in the countryside, where his father is strong and his mother bakes. He is tormented by a boy named Evert, and he secretly loves the sister of Evert. The seeds of future heartbreak begin to shape his view of love and belonging.

During his confirmation, Evert humiliates him by tipping sacramental wine over the dresses of girls, and his heartbreak pushes him to flee to Stockholm. The incident marks a turning point, spurring him to seek a new life away from his hometown. He leaves behind the people who taunted him and the life he knew.

In Stockholm, Johan begins work as a mason, hauling bricks and carrying bottles of beer to a foreman who drinks a bottle for every brick laid. His bleak job situation compounds his loneliness and longing for affection. He fantasizes about more in life than the hard labor allows.

Loneliness drives Johan to fantasize about women and he visits his first brothel. The memory marks his early sexual awakenings as he navigates desire in a difficult life. These thoughts haunt him when he later recalls them.

Johan grows a moustache and goes to an amusement park with Sven and a man from Värmland. They flirt with girls and join in the lighthearted mischief, though Johan is humiliated again when he fails at kicking a can to camouflage a fart. The scene blends camaraderie with comic embarrassment.

A nurse brings Johan back to reality to give him his medicine, cutting short his wandering thoughts. The interruption underscores his dependence on others and his struggle to stay present.

Johan fantasizes about a pyramid scheme that would yield thousands of whiskey bottles and a luxurious life in Monte Carlo. In his dream, he is pursued by gangsters, blending danger with the lure of wealth. The fantasy reveals his hunger for escape from poverty and insignificance.

He turns his thoughts toward death, remembering his deceased parents and the fragility of life. The melancholy mood deepens as he contemplates what has become of his life. His past looms large over his present.

Johan receives a letter from his son who ran away to America years ago, asking for money. He imagines what those American things might look like and how they could change his fate. The moment blends realism with longing for reconciliation and better prospects.

The city blocks Johan helped build are being demolished to make way for modern planning, and he sums up his failed life. Poverty ruined his relationships, his son ran away, and his wife died. He befriends Sven at the retirement home, and together they drink to fade their memories.