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Reviews
Du levande (2007)
A Masterpiece of Human Emotion
This film is an exquisite exploration of the human condition. What makes us human and holds us all together is sometimes more important than the surrounding events that are taking place. This is the main premise for You, the Living, as we enter a peculiar world filled with grief, loneliness, and sadness.
The film is set up as a staged performance. The camera rarely moves and the subjects are almost always sitting completely still and simply narrating or doing some other seemingly out of place action. When I first watched this movie, the first few scenes were something that I had never experienced before in my movie going past. I tried to figure out the genre of the film, but as more and more scenes went by the purpose of the scene construction became more and more clear. We enter into a dream like state. Everything in the movie when picked apart individually seems to be rather normal. But we still get a sense that there is just something off about the whole film. The timing is a bit awkward. People's interactions with one another are just a bit off. People's actions are out of place.
What then can we say is the driving force behind the movie? There isn't a central plot to hold on to; we skip around to different characters that all end up in some way having interactions with each other. This strengthens the sense of dreaminess about the film as frequently you might have several seemingly disconnected dreams in a night but there is one thing that ties them all together. The construction of this film, when viewed in this way is extraordinary. You need the whole film to know what is going on. The film plot and story are not being acted out by actors, but rather the editing and the scenes themselves.
You can look at just about any scene individually and write the movie off as almost being completely insane. A long shot of a man playing a tuba? A long hall with people standing on chairs and singing? People shopping for carpet to only have the clerk break down and pour out his heart about his marriage? These are all things weave together to address what we all feel as people. What we dream about, good, bad, rewarding is captured by this film.
For example, we have a middle eastern barber who shaves the head of an arrogant customer. Anyone who works in a customer service industry knows what it is like to deal with pushy customers all day and how good it would be to just to act out. Another example would be the carpet salesman who all of the sudden went on a long rant about his wife. Or the Prominent man of the community who was interrupted before an important speech by his son asking for money. What about the old man who was sent to the electric chair because he broke his wife's dishes? These things when paired with the dreamy filming of the film make you question that perhaps the events that take place are simply internal anxieties that manifest themselves in the world.
Perhaps that is what Andersson is saying about the human condition. Maybe our deepest anxiety is that we are truthful with one another and, in the words of the characters in the film, "nobody understands."
Overall, this is a very strong film. It is a film that is unique from any other film that I have seen previously. As you watch you are memorized by the oddity that each scene takes on. Previous film techniques are almost forgotten. We have very little movement, almost no action, and the camera remains still throughout. On top of that the plot doesn't exist. Instead we are left with small episodes that offer little to no resolution of the problems they present. In each scene only the main character of interest truly "acts." The rest of the people present simply have little to no reaction to what is going on with that character. As such this is a film about lonely people who are desperately trying to seek out and connect with others.
Some people will not like this movie. People looking for a typical Hollywood experience should stay far away from this film. However, if you go into the film with an open mind and stick with the film to truly find out what the film is about it is an absolute delight. It is quirky, witty, funny, and sad. Most importantly it reminded me of just how versatile film as an art form truly is. I would say that it is probably the most memorable and inspiring movies that I have seen.
Efter brylluppet (2006)
Captivating view of the human condition.
Covering the full spectrum of human emotions, After the Wedding is an intense film about rebirth, lost love, and mortality. The film is thought provoking through its explorations of power, greed, and charity. Not only that, but the film's style creates an instantly relatable experience for the viewer to connect to at least one of the characters in the film.
Power is perhaps the strongest element in the film. We follow the successful businessman Jorgen as he attempts to make a decision about donating to a charity. What we initially view as an act of altruism soon shows the ulterior motives behind choosing this particular charity. The man running the charity, Jacob, is his wife's ex lover and his stepdaughter's real father. His motives are made clear when he reveals that he is dying and wants Jacob to care for his family after he is gone. Thus Jorgen delivers an ultimatum; in order for him to fund Jacob's charity, Jacob must stay in Denmark.
This creates a powerful image of helplessness in the film. Jorgen, a man who has everything, is completely helpless when faced with death. He pleads to Jacob to help him care for his family when he is gone. What is interesting here is the choice of charity that Jacob makes. He is focused on helping those less fortunate at his orphanage, but should he turn his back on someone just because they are rich? The film reaches its climax when Jorgen confronts Jacob and asks him if he needs to be halfway around the world to get his help.
We also see Jorgen as a very powerful character early on, but it is soon revealed that he is too weak to confront his impending mortality. So instead of telling everyone outright that he is about to die, he hides is illness for as long as possible. This adds to the human nature of the character as no matter how rich and powerful he is, he is still human and all humans are afraid of mortality.
On the flip side of the decision, we have Jacob who needs to make a decision about selling out. He knows he can do more good by being at his orphanage then being in Denmark, however, he also needs Jorgen's money in order to keep the orphanage operational. What this creates then is an intense internal struggle that we can all relate to. Money talks, and no matter how deep your convictions are, if you need money, those with the money have the power. So just as Jorgen feels helpless caring for his family, Jacob feels helpless caring for his own "family" back at the orphanage.
Jacob also has to make another important decision. In his past life in Denmark he has left behind a daughter, who he never knew. So his decision of whether to stay in Denmark is clouded as he must make the decision to stay and care for his own flesh and blood or travel back and try to help those he has no relation to. His daughter is well off but the emotional impact of learning of her father shows in the film. Is emotional well being of his daughter just as important as physical well being of the kids in the orphanage?
Another crucial aspect of the film is Jacob's rebirth. When we first meet Jacob he is portrayed as entirely selfless with only the thoughts of helping the children on his mind. But on his return to Demark, we find out he has a dark past of substance abuse and adultery. This adds a powerful layer to Jacob's character. What was the true purpose of going to a far off land to help the less fortunate? Was he truly altruistic or simply running away. We can see from the film that he hasn't dealt with the issues of his past life until his return to Denmark.
The overall style of the film also adds to its humanist qualities. A very slow film at first but as the film progresses we peel off the outer layers of each of the characters to reveal the chaos of their emotions. The film is straightforward and avoids the use of any post-production special effects. What we are left with is a very human story. The acting itself feels very personal as you are peering into these people's lives and viewing them at their most intimate moments. The film excels at exploring each character's depth of emotions as they have to make some of the most important decisions of their lives.
The film was quite enjoyable. It allows us an intimate glimpse into the world of four characters that are as multidimensional as anyone who we would encounter in real life. My only complaint of the film would be its pacing as it is much too slow in the first hour of the film, but once the drama climaxes, pacing is no longer an issue. As a whole, I would recommend this film
Síðasti bærinn (2004)
The Nature of Pride
The Last Farm is an excellently executed interpretation of a dying culture and the people who keep it alive. The film is set in rural Iceland at a small farm that time has left untouched for several decades. Vast emptiness, filled with serene beauty, surrounds the farm that is so remote that groceries and mail are only delivered once in a while. The story follows Hrafn, whose solitude is emphasized by the manual labor set against the somber music of a violin. He is very ingrained in his cultural beliefs; even though he is completely alone he is reluctant to answer the phone because it is rude to call during dinner. We learn through his phone call that he will soon be moving to a retirement community and nothing in the conversation foreshadows his later intentions of burying himself alive next to his recently deceased wife's coffin. He tells his daughter that her mother is taking a nap and is not ill. This conversation is practically the only dialog in the film and sets the theme of the film; the quiet ending of an era.
On the surface, this film could be portrayed as a film about love. His undying love for his wife superseded his duty as a father to inform his daughter of her mother's death. Perhaps he was so grief stricken that he simply couldn't bear to admit it and simply wanted to die alone with the woman he loved. However, the film is much more than that. It is about dying culture, values, and way of life.
The film is timeless. We really don't have any indication of what year it is in the film. Nothing is new. Everything is worn with a layer of patina indicating its age. The film could be set several years in the future, a few years ago, or the present. This combined with the title of the film, "The Last Farm" indicated that the story is about the last true farm in Iceland. Regardless of when this last farm disappeared, the story's purpose is to invoke the emotion of being the last. The last memories of how things were and how people saw their role in the context of the land and the people they interacted with.
Hrafn is a man of the land. He is a farmer without many modern tools. About the only machinery that he uses is his tractor. He gathers wood from the beach (no trees are present in the film), manually cuts and planes the wood, and even digs the large grave by hand. He is one man living alone building what he needs with his own hands. The music that plays while he is doing all this labor is a sole violin. This sets the mood of him not being exuberantly motivated to do this labor, but doing it because it is his duty.
What he sees as his duty is lost on his daughter who wants to take him away from the only life he has ever known and thrust him into a senior living facility. While she thinks that she is doing something good by allowing her parents to relax, it is not his life. We know that Hrafn knows that his daughter will not understand the important values that he keeps from the complete lack of any indication that he is about to kill himself. He knows what he is doing is right in his mind and doesn't want anyone to stop him. So at the same time he is building his wife's coffin, he calmly talks to his daughter to make plans for them to come.
His somber death is preceded by one final survey of the land he loves. The surrounding landscape is untouched by people with his farm being the only building for as far as the eye can see. He realizes that what he has is vanishing and his daughter who now lives in an urban area no longer values this great beauty. Due to the relentless march of modernization, his only chance to die the way he lived (by the land) is to silently die by his own hand. While others see his life as laborious and strenuous, he sees it as simply living. The self-recognition of his cultural death is powerful in the film. "The Last Farm" reminds us that the cultural beliefs we hold and try to force on others under the hope of helping them kills a culture.