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Dear John

Original title: Käre John
  • 19641964
  • 1h 55m
IMDb RATING
6.4/10
346
YOUR RATING
Dear John (1964)
DramaRomance
John is a shipmaster on a very small transportation boat which regularly attends a very small harbour to buy food, actually from Anna's father. She is a waitress and has a young daughter. Sh... Read allJohn is a shipmaster on a very small transportation boat which regularly attends a very small harbour to buy food, actually from Anna's father. She is a waitress and has a young daughter. She tells John that her name is Anita. They have met many times, but their first personal me... Read allJohn is a shipmaster on a very small transportation boat which regularly attends a very small harbour to buy food, actually from Anna's father. She is a waitress and has a young daughter. She tells John that her name is Anita. They have met many times, but their first personal meeting is when both are swimming in early morning. John is asked to have morning coffee wit... Read all
IMDb RATING
6.4/10
346
YOUR RATING
    • Lars-Magnus Lindgren
    • Lars-Magnus Lindgren
    • Olle Länsberg(novel)
  • Stars
    • Jarl Kulle
    • Christina Schollin
    • Helena Nilsson
    • Lars-Magnus Lindgren
    • Lars-Magnus Lindgren
    • Olle Länsberg(novel)
  • Stars
    • Jarl Kulle
    • Christina Schollin
    • Helena Nilsson
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 4User reviews
  • See production, box office & company info
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Nominated for 1 Oscar

    Photos24

    Dear John (1964)
    Dear John (1964)
    Dear John (1964)
    Dear John (1964)
    Dear John (1964)
    Dear John (1964)
    Dear John (1964)
    Dear John (1964)
    Dear John (1964)
    Dear John (1964)
    Dear John (1964)
    Dear John (1964)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Jarl Kulle
    Jarl Kulle
    • John Berndtsson
    Christina Schollin
    Christina Schollin
    • Anna
    Helena Nilsson
    • Helena
    Erik Hell
    Erik Hell
    • Yngve Lindgren
    Emy Storm
    Emy Storm
    • Karin Lindgren
    Morgan Anderson
    • Raymond
    Synnøve Liljebæck
    • Dagny
    Hans Wigren
    • Elon
    Håkan Serner
    Håkan Serner
    • Erwin
    Bo Wahlström
    • Bosse
    • (as Bosse Wahlström)
    Erland Nordenfalk
    • Kurt
    Stig Woxther
    • Taxi Driver
    • (uncredited)
      • Lars-Magnus Lindgren
      • Lars-Magnus Lindgren
      • Olle Länsberg(novel)
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Sweden's official submission to the 38th Academy Awards for the Best Foreign Language Film category.
    • Quotes

      John Berndtsson: Jävla anständiga kyskhetsluder!

      [after Anna refuses John's initial sexual advances]

    • Connections
      Edited into Short cuts från Sandrews (1999)

    User reviews4

    Review
    Review
    Featured review
    Romantic classic; not gimmicky enough for today's fans
    After all these years (I remember the hub-bub when this was released in '66) I was thrilled to finally see DEAR JOHN, a great Swedish film which proved to be the "date movie" of its day here in America. And I also discovered why it has fallen into obscurity.

    Writer-director Lars-Magnus Lindgren, a very talented & versatile filmmaker, brought impressive technique to telling a simple tale, of a wanderlust sailor and a single-parent waitress who fall in love. Nowadays there would have to be a hook, some fantastic or deus ex machina gimmickry to keep the audience's attention, as in the string of dreadful Nicholas Sparks soggy-romance adaptations, including coincidentally a new film called DEAR JOHN.

    But Lindgren wisely keeps it simple, natural, believable and moving, his only trick being a very complicated time structure of flashbacks and flashbacks within flashbacks. There's method in this approach, as the film's final two twists take on a depth thanks to the careful foreshadowing (playing off and around the film's title implication of a farewell note).

    Casting is in no small measure the secret of Lindgren's success here. Jarl Kulle is the 30-something hero, quite different from his archly played Bergman roles of the period like THE DEVIL'S EYE and ALL THESE WOMEN. Because they're Bergman works, though among his least favored, I used to see them all the time, but DEAR JOHN remained elusive all these years.

    Kulle's sailor has a Billy Budd hairstyle which immediately gives Kulle the necessary youthful appearance. He seems self-centered and "one of the guys" for the early part of the film, leading the audience to believe he's only out for a sexual conquest to tell all his pals about. This adds wonderful panache when the tables seem to be turned in later reels, all leading to an even-handed and satisfying romantic conclusion.

    As the leading lady we don't have a blonde bombshell but instead the very ordinary (but lovely) Christina Schollin, who reminded me strongly of America's Mary Stuart Masterson (they even have the same toothy smile). Like Schollin, Masterson was cast in many leading roles for about a decade starting in the mid-'80s but never broke out of the pack to achieve stardom. Even her BENNY & JOON opposite Johnny Depp didn't cement her in the pantheon.

    With Schollin, the breaks were there, the performances too, but she's still too little known. Her Arne Mattsson film WOMAN OF DARKNESS is brilliant, and of course it doesn't get any better than Bergman's FANNY AND Alexander. Back in DEAR JOHN she is touching, so natural one never feels you're watching a star turn. The script's frank treatment of sex (there are many jokes later on about Kulle's "John Thomas", not the sort of thing you'd see or hear about in a Hollywood movie of the time) is its initial drawing card, with extremely tasteful nude scenes.

    So flash-forward to the 21st Century and it is precisely the hokey films that fans (and grubby video distributors) have revived. Sex movies like Joe Sarno's INGA or a slew of Mac Ahlberg soft (and hard) porn titles are in circulation, but not DEAR JOHN.

    Helena Nilsson is wonderful, again completely natural, as Schollin's cute child, and Kulle's impromptu spiriting them away to Copenhagen to see the zoo is a beautifully directed set-piece. And Rune Ericson's black & white visuals are evocative -I've always loved his work for Mai Zetterling and this movie explains why she made him her go-to d.p.

    Now I'll have to hunt for even more obscure Schollin/Kulle pairings from the early '60s: Lindgren's LOVE MATES and Swedish WEDDING NIGHT; unsung quality cinema.
    helpful•16
    1
    • lor_
    • Apr 19, 2011

    Details

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    • Release date
      • November 23, 1964 (Sweden)
      • Sweden
      • Swedish
      • Danish
    • Also known as
    • Filming locations
      • Klagshamn, Malmö, Skåne län, Sweden
    • Production companies
      • FilmhusAteljeerna AB
      • Sandrews
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • 1 hour 55 minutes
      • Black and White
      • Mono

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