Despite not doing well at the theaters and not-so-enthusiastic critic response, this movie was nominated for best picture at the Swedish equivalent of the Oscars, Guldbaggegalan. Sadly I think this tells more about what a slow year 2001 was for Swedish films than what a great film this is. Because in my humble opinion it certainly is not anything special at all. Where should I start. It is based on a book and unfortunately this REALLY shows through... Several lines sound as if they were taken straight from a book. And they use words you simply never use in spoken language.
The story itself is about an old man who obviously is a composer. He falls in love with a woman in his orchestra and they move together but he gets Alzheimers and it gets really bad very fast. Sounds like fun and games to you? Well I can tell you it sure isn't. It gets really predictable very quickly and what's worse it really doesn't end anywhere surprising. Not good or satisfying in any way. The acting is pretty awful actually. Sven Wolter does a good job portraying someone with Alzheimers, but others like Viveca Seldahl delivers her lines without even trying to put some emotion into it. But worst of all for me, having played in an orchestra for several years, was the silliness of trying to cover up that Viveca and Sven really have never been close to such a thing. They stand out awkwardly clear against the people who know how to play an instrument, and it really ruins those scenes for me. No, get your act together Swedish film industry. We need more movies like Fanny och Alexander. My rating: 2/10.
The story itself is about an old man who obviously is a composer. He falls in love with a woman in his orchestra and they move together but he gets Alzheimers and it gets really bad very fast. Sounds like fun and games to you? Well I can tell you it sure isn't. It gets really predictable very quickly and what's worse it really doesn't end anywhere surprising. Not good or satisfying in any way. The acting is pretty awful actually. Sven Wolter does a good job portraying someone with Alzheimers, but others like Viveca Seldahl delivers her lines without even trying to put some emotion into it. But worst of all for me, having played in an orchestra for several years, was the silliness of trying to cover up that Viveca and Sven really have never been close to such a thing. They stand out awkwardly clear against the people who know how to play an instrument, and it really ruins those scenes for me. No, get your act together Swedish film industry. We need more movies like Fanny och Alexander. My rating: 2/10.