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Reviews
Du levande (2007)
An Absurd View on the Repetition of Life and the Dreams We Dream
"I had a dream last night..." This repeated line sets the tone and much of the plot for Roy Andersson's film You, the Living. You, the Living is a film that gives the viewer a few scenes of a number of people's lives and gives them the opportunity to see what the characters had dreamed the night before. These characters live very mundane and repetitive lives and the movie goer is given an opportunity to see into their more fantastical imaginings about what their life could be like. This non-linear story progresses through a series of glimpses into the everyday lives of a number of characters – some who turn out to be connected to each other and others who do not. The repetition of the music of the 'New Orleans' jazz band and the phrase "I had a dream last night" are the strongest connections that the viewer can make to understand the story. Roy Andersson seems to be taking a study of the everyday realities of human life and the mundane repetition that compromises so much of it. Andersson is able to manipulate these realities by looking into the dreaming minds of his characters, and showing what their dreams from the previous night actually looked like – playing them out as if they were a part of reality. The audience gets to see everything from a man put to death for breaking antique china – to a young woman marrying a rock star and the awesome times they have together. These dreams are completely absurd but played out as if they were completely realistic. Overall it is an interesting story that attempts to look at reality and absurdity together.
I think that the different dreams that Andersson (and the writers) have chosen for their characters to have and for the audience to see are very interesting and completely opposite of each other in every way. On the one hand we have the dream of broken china and the death penalty. If I were a psychologist I'm sure that I could have a field day with all the dreams in this movie, but the first one seems to have the most blatant symbolism of fear about public performance and a fear of death. I adore how this man is overwhelmed by this feeling that he must be the entertainment at a sad dinner wake and the way that his dream plays out. Andersson is brilliant in the extremely careful setup as he exams the different pieces of china and the different sides of the table cloth – only to have all his worst fears come true when the china comes flying off with the table cloth. We then move on to the masterfully absurd court scene in which this poor, scared out of his wits gentleman is sentenced to death for his awful crime of destroying antique china.
Andersson uses absurdism to point out a lot of the more quirky aspects of our everyday lives that we may just not be paying attention to. He contrasts the daily call for last drinks at the local bar with a young woman's dream of her life as it would be married to a rock star. By using so many extremes in the film Andersson is able to get at the quintessential idea that life can be mundane and repetitious if we allow it to be, but if we dream big dreams and try to pursue bigger things, our lives can be more than just the daily grind we live through every day.
While I found this film difficult to follow at times, and slightly confusing in the formatting – with periods of very little dialogue and seemingly unconnected actions, in a close viewing I really enjoyed the overall message of the film. I found the filming style of Andersson to be very interesting and it is clear that he is a real masterful filmmaker. He was able to connect a group of seemingly unconnected scenes in an interesting and entertaining way. I think that this is the type of film that only gets more compelling and interesting as you view it multiple times. As you continue to understand the connections of the characters and how their dreams fit into the realities that they live you are able to see how compelling the story of everyday life can be especially when you look at the dreams that go with it. Overall I recommend this film if you are willing to dedicate yourself to the multiple viewings it takes to truly appreciate it.
Himlens hjärta (2008)
An Artistic Experience Redeems a Mundane Plot in Heaven's Heart
"If you don't know someone after 20 years, how will you ever
" This is the big question that the movie Heaven's Heart asks the audience to face – if you can't really understand your spouse after 20 years of marriage, how can you ever truly understand anyone at all?
The film Heaven's Heart begins with the audience seeing the main couple of the film, Susanna and Lars, getting a divorce and they have no idea why. The film then flashes back to 6 months earlier to a dinner party between Susanna & Lars and their best friends Ann & Ulf. At this dinner party the topic of infidelity is brought up because a colleague of Lars has left his wife and kids for a much younger woman. Susanna and Ulf both defend the man – saying that if he has really fallen in love then it is much better that he should leave his wife and kids then staying and being miserable. Lars and Ann both argue strongly against infidelity, saying that they would never want to risk everything they have and they wouldn't ever consider it. This division of opinion between Lars & Ann and their spouses brings the two together in their realization that they both greatly fear that their spouse will find someone else and leave them. The connection that Lars & Ann make eventually leads them to beginning an affair. In the end, although Lars & Ann have previously claimed to be in love, Ann ends up renewing her vows with her husband Ulf, and although they are divorced it appears that Lars & Susanna will also be reuniting despite everything they have been through.
It is disappointing that a movie with a very interesting premise and a group of seemingly strong and complex characters would turn out to be so mundane. At the end of the day everything turned out the same. While both Ann & Ulf and Susanna & Lars have suffered great trials in their relationships during the year that the movie spans they both end up back with their spouses exactly where they began. I thought that I was going to be able to be proud of at least a couple of the characters in the film, but in the end I turned out to be hugely disappointed by everyone except for Elin, Lars & Susanna's daughter who is never actually shown on screen.
Ulf is a player from the start, always discussing with Lars if he should pursue an affair with another woman. While he has never been unfaithful to Ann in action it seems that his heart has wondered off more than a couple times.
Ann is a tragically insecure woman who has lied to her husband from the start out of her fear that he wouldn't marry her/would leave her. I was incredibly frustrated by her and her half-hearted justification to her best friend over how she could essentially steal her husband.
Lars was an incredibly weak character, who turned out to be quite the manipulator in the end. While he seemed very sweet and innocent at the beginning of the affair, he basically turns into a con-artist when he comes crawling back to Susanna after his relationship with Ann ends.
Susanna was a character that I really wanted to like but in the end I was so disappointed with her – I almost would have enjoyed the movie if she had been able to stay strong and tell her ex-husband to shove it when he tried to get back with her, but instead of moving on and realizing she deserved much better than Lars, she held onto his hand and looked into his eyes – signaling that she too would like things to go back to the way that they had been before.
The main thing that actually kept me interested in the film was the impressive use and color in both the wardrobe and set choices. I loved the way in which the director and set designer were so specific in the colors that they choose for absolutely everything in the film, it was a great way to enhance the film and keep the audience engaged. Even without hearing the words spoken by the characters the evolution of their clothing and the furniture around them told a very clear story. For example at the beginning of the film both Ann & Lars are wearing a similar periwinkle blue when they bond over their fear of spousal infidelity and they begin an affair. After the affair is begun the audience only sees Ann in bright, bold colors – while Susanna is always seen in black. The stark contrast between the two women's clothing is a very telling sign of the state of their relationships. Overall the use of color in the film is the most engaging aspect.
While this movie, in the end, has an extremely mundane plot, it is not necessarily a bad movie; it's just not a very good movie. The use of color as a story telling element and the compelling sets that are designed around tables and conversation make for a very interesting visual experience and overall makes this movie one worth viewing simply to see how simple choices like clothing & furniture color can make such a huge impact on a film.
101 Reykjavík (2000)
An Icelandic Comedy with a Morbid Sense of Humor
The film 101 Reykjavík is very difficult to interrupt from the get-go. It is hard to tell if this will just be another Nordic film about a Mama's boy living at home with no career and no clear purpose in life, or if there may be a bigger and more complex story then the one seen at the surface. 101 Reykavík tells the story of the day to day life of Hlynur, an unemployed, late 20s guy living at home with his mom, collecting unemployment from the state. He lives a life of partying and self-indulgence/preoccupation, he does what he wants when he wants, and puts up every fight he can when he is asked to do things by or for others. Hlynur is forced to re-evaluate his life when his mother's flamenco teacher and eventual partner, Lola, enters his life. She urges him and forces him to reexamine the life that he has been leading – she says "you're sleepwalking through life and you don't realize it". In the end this entertaining tale follows Hlynur's life circumstances that force him to either grow up or give up.
A unique aspect of this comedy is that it uses a very morbid sense of humor compared to traditional comedies. Hlynur is often seen reflecting on death, or making comments that invoke death. From the beginning of the film Hlynur reflects that "life is a break from death". This idea seems to set the tone for the movie, even though it is a comedy. This morbidity throughout leaves the audience wondering if this is a story about how Hlynur's life will come to its end – the audience is even shown Hlynur laying in the snow for an extended period of time, seemingly giving himself to nature and giving up on trying to solve the complications of his life. By using this very dark sense of comedy the audience is given a strong and compelling contrast to the bars and rave style parties that Hlynur is attending. These parties seem light and happy, the bars are full of drinking and couple making out – but these images are often contrasted with a voice over of Hlynur saying something like the bar was a "place haunted by unborn children". While Hlynur can often come across as superficial and self-centered, moments like this give the audience the idea that he is thinking much deeper thoughts then we think, and that he also has a better sense of the world then may initially come across.
This use of morbid humor plays into one of the biggest themes seen in the film which is mortality. The film is shaped around Hlynur's statement that he dies every weekend. That Friday is part I death and Saturday is death part II in which everyone reflects on the first death. These recurring ideas of life and death are not only seen in the words of Hlynur but in the actions of those around him. The abortion of Hofy and the pregnancy and birth of Lola both express the ideas of life and death very strongly. The baby, Kristin, is able to give Hlynur the sense that live goes on and progresses, it is formed a new every day, and that living a wholly selfish life may not actually be a life worth living.
A stand out aspect of this film is the director's style and method of filming. It is very clear from the way in which this film was shot that Baltasar Kormákur has a great deal of experience not only behind the camera but in front of it as well. He is able to capture the character's emotions and feelings so clearly just by his use of the camera. He pushes the audience and the character of Hlynur to the extreme in his beautiful shots of Hlynur climbing and collapsing on the Icelandic mountain. The depth and perspective of these shots gives the audience the sense of every overwhelming emotion that Hlynur is experiencing all at once, from his relationship to his mom and Lola, to his reflection on his relationship with his father and Hofy. In one shot Kormákur is able to say so much while Hlynur doesn't say anything at all. Kormákur unique perspective as both an actor and a director is highly evident in this film and it greatly enhances the audience's experience of Hlynur's world.
While this film may initially come across as a sexually charged comedy, it actually turns out to be a compelling coming of age story. It is a dark comedy that uses a morbid sense of humor to show how Hlynur learns to care about more in the world then just himself.