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BERLIN, Feb 16 — It starts bleak, like quite a few Scandinavian films before it. Then “A Somewhat Gentle Man,” a Norwegian movie screened at the Berlin Film Festival yesterday, warms into a delightful if still-dark comedy.

Grey-haired gangster Ulrik, just out of a 12-year jail sentence for murder, stumbles from one tricky situation to another. He is supposed to kill someone but has gone soft.

“These are people who aren’t in the top tier of society, and probably not at the prime of their life, and it’s amusing to see how they struggle to retain a sliver of dignity,” director Hans Petter Moland told a news conference at the world premiere.

“It’s really hard to age with any sort of dignity, well knowing that you aren’t necessarily young, beautiful and rich and happy, and all these other things we are supposed to aspire to,” the Norwegian added.

Ulrik leaves prison and returns to the vestiges of his former life, where his gangster boss — complete with thick gold chain and half-wit sidekick — is waiting for him to kill the snitch that ratted on him.

But Ulrik, who ends up getting entangled in a hilarious love triangle with his bosses’ troll-like older sister and a younger rival, is suddenly hesitant about the hit and instead starts devoting his energy to re-connecting with his grown-up son.

In the meantime, he keeps getting seduced by different women while he’s trying to eat his dinner. He does go to kill the snitch but gives up when the frightened target wets his pants. So they sit down for a cup of tea instead.

The film plays with gangster stereotypes and weaves in slapstick comedy and scenes of human pathos, trying to break down the idea that a murderer is simply a bad guy.

“In Scandinavia, we reject the simplistic idea there are only good guys and bad guys, which is really healthy,” said Stellan Skarsgard, the Swedish star who plays Ulrik.

Skarsgard, who has featured in Hollywood films such as “Pirates of the Caribbean” and “Mamma Mia!,” added: “If you want to make films about people, they should be silly, funny, beautiful, tragic and moving, as we’re all of those things.”

Another Scandinavian film competing at the festival, “Submarino”, also recounts the story of an ex-convict but strikes a darker tone. — Reuters