MovieChat Forums > En man som heter Ove (2016) Discussion > 'White Shirts and Foreign cars' - what d...

'White Shirts and Foreign cars' - what do they actually mean un the movie.

posted 7 years ago by gannyias
2 replies | jump to latest

Ove hates the guys what he terms as "White Shirts" and hates cars other than his brand. Why is it so? Never visited sweden. Is there any message in it?

[–] andersmo 7 years ago

The "White Shirts" are what's more commonly known as "White Collar Workers". Being a "Blue Collar Worker" himself, it's natural for Ove to be suspicious, or even hostile towards bureaucrats.

In Sweden, there's been a traditional rivalry between owners of the two major brands of Swedish cars, Saab and Volvo. Each considering "their" brand to be the superior. And no matter if you held a preference for Saab or Volvo, BMW would of course be completely out of the question...

[–] lcg55 7 years ago

The white shirts are members of the council. As you discover throughout the movie and book (especially book), he spends a lot of his life losing things/fighting against them. Losing his home where he grew up, trying to get someone held responsible for the bus accident, his wife's job being wheelchair friendly, and most likely in her care towards the end of her life. He wrote lots of letters and never did anything to help.