Film: A Swedish Love Story
Release date: 21st March 2011
Certificate: 15
Running time: 115 mins
Director: Roy Andersson
Starring: Ann-Sofie Kylin, Rolf Sohlman, Anita Lindblom, Bertil Norstrom, Lennart Tellfelt
Genre: Drama/Romance
Studio: Artificial Eye
Format: DVD
Country: Sweden
Those who are familiar with director Roy Andersson’s more surrealist work may be surprised by his debut feature. In A Swedish Love Story, Andersson explores the heady mix of confusion and delirium that can only ever be caused by that first teenage romance. Although it is a theme that has been explored by many a director, arguably few have done it as well as Roy Andersson.
A Swedish Love Story revolves around two teenagers, 15-year-old Par and 13-year-old Annika, who meet when on an outing with their respective families and proceed to fall in love over the course of the summer.
During this time, they are oblivious to the problems within their families, concerned only with their own feelings for each other.
The film culminates with the two families meeting for the first time at Par’s house in the countryside...
Some experiences in life are universal. Regardless of their generation, it’s pretty safe to say that every 15-year-old wishes they were 25 and everyone over the age of 25 wishes they were 15. There is also a good chance that, at some point, between the ages of 15 and 25, everyone falls in love to some extent. It is this universality that endears audiences to A Swedish Love Story some forty-one years after it was first released. Therefore, despite the film’s many retro features, such as the fact that much of the action takes place in diners with pinball machines and the cast wear leather jackets that were last seen on John Travolta in Grease, the underlying premise of the film is just as applicable today as it was all those years ago.
The film opens with Par trying out various boxing moves and smoking poses in front of a mirror, an image which sums up the two lead characters perfectly. Like many teenagers, they spend their time languishing against walls and smoking whilst casting surreptitious glances at each other in a desperate attempt to look sophisticated. And yet, when they try to communicate with each other (at least in the early instances), they cannot find the words and it is left to their friends to pass messages back and forth. This childlike adultness is expertly and subtly conveyed through wholly convincing and likeable performances by Rolf Sohlman and Ann-Sofie Kylin as Par and Annika respectively.
As well as highly naturalistic performances, the film also boasts beautiful photography where even the most mundane scenes are romanticised by Jörgen Persson’s camera. The scene in which Par and his friends are riding their scooters at sunset, lit only by the glow of their headlights, creates a dusky, hazy mise-en-scène and reflects the world in a way in which only two people in love can view it.
Not only do Par and Annika view the world differently, they also create their own world which excludes everything and everyone else. When Annika’s parents go away for the weekend, they adopt the house as their own and remain completely oblivious to everything outside of it. They only have time for each other. The camera is respectful of this as it swoops and swirls from the street into their bedroom window to capture them dancing together. It’s as if it cannot help but get caught up in giddy feelings of love and romance emanating from the characters. This feeling is also heightened by the romantic soundtrack, which increases and then decreases in tempo in accordance with the movement of the camera.
Moreover, the innocence of the protagonists is heightened by weary cynicism of the adults in the film. Anika’s aunt, Eva, laments her failed ambitions to be an air stewardess, whilst her father is a salesman beaten by capitalism who tells his daughter that “money is everything.” Thanks to the cocoon they’ve created for themselves, Par and Annika remain oblivious to the mounting pressure that exists within their families. This pressure reaches its crescendo when the two families meet officially, which brings the narrative full circle. It is here that Andersson’s more absurdist tendencies can be observed and the final scene culminates with Annika’s father going missing because he can no longer bear the stain. As the search party returns, Annika asks Par about what might have been going on as neither of them witnessed the commotion: “I think they just went fishing,” he says. This wonderfully innocent line brilliantly reflects the theme of the film and its characters - it’s about two teenagers who are so young and so besotted with each other that they have yet to experience the harsh reality of the world. And as the credits roll, one can only hope that they are allowed to remain this way for a little while longer.
A Swedish Love Story is a charming film whose cyclical narrative mirrors the enclosed world that its two young protagonists create for themselves. The captivating performances and the camerawork all expertly evoke the innocence and excitement of teenage love in a way that you can’t help but warm to. SH
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