Moving and funny about the seventies

I'm feeling strangely exhilarated, having just returned from watching Tillsammans, the new film by Lukas Moodysson whose last film Fucking Åmål was one of the best Swedish films I've seen. The feeling is the one you get after watching/reading something which is touching, funny and tragic all rolled into one.

The film deals with the lifes of the members of the collective Tillsammans (Together), living in Stockholm in the mid-seventies. The times being what they were, they don't eat meat, watch TV and so forth, but they all want to make the world a better place. The main protagonist is Göran, an excessively kind man who wants everyone to be happy and tries his best to make it so, and what happens when his sister Elisabeth moves to the collective after her husband has hit her.

What makes the film so great is a combination of things. The acting is superb, with Göran and Elisabeth's daughter Eva being the highlights. The script and directing is all first rate, as in the scene where Göran's girlfriend returns to their bedroom after she's slept with another of the collective's male members (their relationship is a liberated one), and tells Göran how wonderful it was. Göran, being the kind person as he is, says that he's happy for her sake, but it's obvious he's very sad.

The scene is a simple one, but manages to evoke laughter, empathy and sadness all at once, as the whole film does. I love it when someone manages to mix emotions as this film does.

Go and see it, now! And while you're at it, go see Fucking Åmål, too.

Facts

• Embarrasingly, I recognized almost all of the tunes in the movie and could sing along
• In USA, Fucking Åmål was re-christened to Show Me Love, but the film company said that the provocative title had no impact on their decision to change it's name...