Everlasting Moments (2008)
"Maria Larssons eviga ögonblick" (original title)

In a time of social change and unrest, war and poverty, a young working class woman, Maria, wins a camera in a lottery. The decision to keep it alters her whole life.

Director:

Jan Troell

Writers:

Niklas Rådström (screenplay), Jan Troell (story),

Stars:

Maria Heiskanen, Mikael Persbrandt, Jesper Christensen

Nominated for 1 Golden Globe. Another 11 wins & 8 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Maria Heiskanen	...	Maria Larsson
Mikael Persbrandt	...	Sigfrid Larsson
Jesper Christensen	...	Sebastian Pedersen
Callin Öhrvall	...	Maja Larsson (age 15-22)
Nellie Almgren	...	Maja Larsson (age 8-10)
Birte Heribertsson	...	Maja Larsson (narration) / Aunt Tora
Ghita Nørby	...	Miss Fagerdal
Amanda Ooms	...	Matilda
Emil Jensen	...	Englund
Claire Wikholm	...	Grandmother Karna
Ann Petrén	...	Ida
Antti Reini	...	Finnish Sea Captain
Annika Lundgren	...	Miss Öst
Maria Lundqvist	...	Miss Petrén
Hans Henrik Clemensen	...	Mr. Fagerdal

Storyline

Sweden, early 1900s - an era of social change and unrest, war and poverty. A young working class woman, Maria, wins a camera in a lottery. The camera grants her the eyes to view the world, and empowers her over several decades to raise and nurture her family of six children and an alcoholic, womanizing and sometimes violent, although ultimately loving, husband.

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Plot Keywords:

camera | working class | 1900s | alcoholic | alcoholic father | 

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Genres:

Biography | Drama

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Certificate:

Unrated

Details

Country:

Sweden Denmark Norway Finland Germany

Language:

Swedish Finnish

Release Date:

24 September 2008 (Sweden)

Also Known As:

Everlasting Moments

Filming Locations:

Luleå, Norrbottens län, Sweden

Box Office

Budget:

€4,773,906 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$40,443 (USA) (6 March 2009)

Gross:

$606,126 (USA) (19 June 2009)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Blind Spot Pictures Oy, Final Cut Productions, Göta Film

Technical Specs

Runtime:

131 min 106 min (short)

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Sweden's official submission to the Best Foreign Language Film category of the The 81st Annual Academy Awards.

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Connections

Featured in The 66th Annual Golden Globe Awards (2009)

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Soundtracks

"After the Ball"
from the musical "A Trip to Chinatown"
Music by Charles Harris
Played by orchestra at picnic

User Reviews

A lovely film

The title of this film is particularly apt in light of what it presents and how it does so. Obviously every photograph is an everlasting moment in itself but in this film they are moments that represent a time and a place. Maria Larsson's pictures show the plight of the poor in early 20th century Sweden; the Red Rallies that were sweeping through Europe and the coming of war through to the restoring of peace. All these events and how they affect the ordinary people of her little town are recorded faithfully by this simple downtrodden housewife in between fending off her drunken husband's advances and raising the seven or so children that result. While there isn't so much a plot to 'Everlasting Moments' there is still an engaging story. It opens in 1907 when Maria discovers a camera she had won some years before and put away and forgotten about. Times are hard and her first thought is to sell it and she heads to the local photographic shop run by Sebastien Federson. He manages to persuade her to wait a while, to try and get some use of the camera first before she decides to get rid of it and pretty soon Maria is hooked on her new hobby. Meanwhile her husband Sigge flits from job to job and pub to pub and makes home-life more and more a living hell. Maria keeps her camera a secret from him for as long as she can and uses it as her only means of escape – she can't possibly leave her marriage, tearing asunder what God has joined together. While Sigge is all but openly unfaithful she herself has a chaste, platonic love with her mentor Sebastien. As Everlasting Moments takes you on its journey you just go with the flow, you forget that at some point this film is going to come to an end and in a way you don't really want it to. The acting all round is excellent and appropriately enough the photography is striking. The entire film looks like a faded photograph from the era, it's shot in colour but you have to regularly remind yourself of the fact by spotting something of colour in the scene. This just adds to the atmosphere, the feeling that you are not watching a film set in the early 1900s but in fact at a play - being performed in the early 1900s.