Just as the opening lines of a good novel should engage and inform, so should the opening scenes of a movie. The opening scenes of this movie are close-ups of an old Contessa camera accompanied by a gentle score. But it is the opening lines:
"A week after mother met father she won a camera in a lottery. Father thought that the camera should be his as he'd bought the ticket. Mother said that if he wanted to share it, he'd have to marry her. So they got married."
that hooked me. We know that the story will be about a camera, a marriage, and a family--and it will be told from the point of view of a daughter. The story teller is Maja, daughter of Maria and Sigfrid "Sigge" Larsson. The movie opens in Sweden 1907 and follows the Larsson family for over a decade.
The marriage is what in contemporary parlance would be called rocky. Sigfrid is a handsome man and can be likable and entertaining, but he has two big weaknesses: women and alcohol. Unfortunately he succumbs to his weaknesses all too often. This behavior, together with the fact that money is tight and the family is large, puts a mighty strain on Maria who suffers through it until one day she happens on the old camera and decides to sell it to make ends meet. The photographer she takes the camera to for the sale, Sebastian Pedersen, looks at the single photo in the camera and envisions Maria as a special person (maybe because he is attracted to her) with perhaps a special talent. He loans her the camera and offers encouragement.
The essence of the movie examines how Maria's growing interest in photography affects her and her family. This is an era when women were not expected to have any interests beyond taking care of the family, and Sigge is predictably jealous of Maria's new-found interest and behaves accordingly. But he is also just a little bit fascinated.
For me the crucial scene is when Maria takes the camera back to Sebastian and wants to sell it, since she recognizes that her passion for photography is disrupting her relationships with her family. One of her sons had remarked that all she seemed to want to do was take pictures. But Pedersen tells her that once a passion has been excited it cannot easily be suppressed. Maria persists.
The story encompasses historical events of the times, such as strikes (Sigge is a dock worker) and communist influences. One of Sigge's friends is a follower of Kropotkin.
This is beautifully filmed and nearly flawless. The period details never seem artificial. You sense that this was a labor of love on Troell's part. In fact his wife is the great niece of Maja Larsson and wrote a book based on the real life Maria Larsson as told to her by Maja.
All of the actors are good but Maria Heiskanen, as Maria, delivers a powerful performance in its understated subtlety. I can hardly think of a performance by an actress that I have been more impressed with.
The Criterion Collection DVD contains an excellent one-hour biography of Troell that could stand on its own as a worthy viewing experience. For being a somewhat shy person I thought Troell revealed some very intimate things about himself.
I wish there were more films like this.
"A week after mother met father she won a camera in a lottery. Father thought that the camera should be his as he'd bought the ticket. Mother said that if he wanted to share it, he'd have to marry her. So they got married."
that hooked me. We know that the story will be about a camera, a marriage, and a family--and it will be told from the point of view of a daughter. The story teller is Maja, daughter of Maria and Sigfrid "Sigge" Larsson. The movie opens in Sweden 1907 and follows the Larsson family for over a decade.
The marriage is what in contemporary parlance would be called rocky. Sigfrid is a handsome man and can be likable and entertaining, but he has two big weaknesses: women and alcohol. Unfortunately he succumbs to his weaknesses all too often. This behavior, together with the fact that money is tight and the family is large, puts a mighty strain on Maria who suffers through it until one day she happens on the old camera and decides to sell it to make ends meet. The photographer she takes the camera to for the sale, Sebastian Pedersen, looks at the single photo in the camera and envisions Maria as a special person (maybe because he is attracted to her) with perhaps a special talent. He loans her the camera and offers encouragement.
The essence of the movie examines how Maria's growing interest in photography affects her and her family. This is an era when women were not expected to have any interests beyond taking care of the family, and Sigge is predictably jealous of Maria's new-found interest and behaves accordingly. But he is also just a little bit fascinated.
For me the crucial scene is when Maria takes the camera back to Sebastian and wants to sell it, since she recognizes that her passion for photography is disrupting her relationships with her family. One of her sons had remarked that all she seemed to want to do was take pictures. But Pedersen tells her that once a passion has been excited it cannot easily be suppressed. Maria persists.
The story encompasses historical events of the times, such as strikes (Sigge is a dock worker) and communist influences. One of Sigge's friends is a follower of Kropotkin.
This is beautifully filmed and nearly flawless. The period details never seem artificial. You sense that this was a labor of love on Troell's part. In fact his wife is the great niece of Maja Larsson and wrote a book based on the real life Maria Larsson as told to her by Maja.
All of the actors are good but Maria Heiskanen, as Maria, delivers a powerful performance in its understated subtlety. I can hardly think of a performance by an actress that I have been more impressed with.
The Criterion Collection DVD contains an excellent one-hour biography of Troell that could stand on its own as a worthy viewing experience. For being a somewhat shy person I thought Troell revealed some very intimate things about himself.
I wish there were more films like this.