My Life as a Dog (1985)

A boy and his brother don't get along well. In order to let their ill mother rest, they're separated and sent each one with their relatives.

Director:

Lasse Hallström

Writers:

Reidar Jönsson (novel), Lasse Hallström

Stars:

Anton Glanzelius, Tomas von Brömssen, Anki Lidén

Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 14 wins & 3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Anton Glanzelius	...	Ingemar
Tomas von Brömssen	...	morbror Gunnar
Anki Lidén	...	Ingemars mamma (as Anki Liden)
Melinda Kinnaman	...	Saga
Kicki Rundgren	...	moster Ulla
Lennart Hjulström	...	konstnären
Ing-Marie Carlsson	...	Berit
Leif Ericson	...	farbror Sandberg (as Leif Ericsson)
Christina Carlwind	...	Fru sandberg
Ralph Carlsson	...	Harry
Viveca Dahlén	...	tvättande kvinna
Arnold Alfredsson	...	Mannes farfar (as Arnold Alfredson)
Fritz Elofsson	...	Mäster
Didrik Gustafsson	...	Arvidsson, dying old man befriended by Ingmar (as Didrik Gustavsson)
Jan-Philip Hollström	...	Manne, the boy with green hair

Storyline

Ingemar lives with his brother and his terminally ill mother. He may have a rough time, but not as bad as Laika - the russian dog sent into space... He gets sent away to stay with relations for the summer. While there, he meets various strange characters, giving him experiences that will affect him for the rest of his life.

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Plot Keywords:

boy | dog | prank | old man | friend | 

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Taglines:

Det kunde ha varit värre. Jag har faktiskt haft tur. Om man jämför...

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Genres:

Drama | Comedy

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Certificate:

Unrated

Details

Country:

Sweden

Language:

Swedish

Release Date:

1 May 1987 (USA)

Also Known As:

My Life as a Dog

Filming Locations:

Boda glassworks, Kalmar län, Sweden

Box Office

Gross USA:

$8,345,266

Company Credits

Production Co:

FilmTeknik,Svensk Filmindustri (SF)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

101 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Fujicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Vonnegut's favorite film, per Timequake.

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Goofs

Sound editing: When Ingemar's walking next to the river kicking metal drums, two of the drums are very different in appearance, but give off exactly the same sound.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Ingemar: I should have told her everything. Mom loved stories like that. It's not so bad if you think about it. It could have been worse. Just think how that poor guy who got a new kidney in Boston ended up. He got his name in all the papers, but he died just the same. And what about Laika, the space dog? They put her in the Sputnik and sent her into space. They attached wires to her heart and brain to see how she felt. I don't think she felt too good. She spun around up there for five ...

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Connections

Features Double or Nothing (1952)

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Soundtracks

Twilight Time
Music and Lyrics composed by Buck Ram, Al Nevins, Morty Nevins, Artie Dunn(1944)
Swedish Lyrics by 'Bengt Sundström' ( "När livet börjar le") and Gösta Rybrant ( "När dagen dör")
Sung by unknown singer

User Reviews

the most heartwarming, my best.

"MY LIFE AS A DOG" is certainly my best film. Especially when I feel somehow composed, this movie always let me notice that such an uneasiness in my heart has been washed by an extremely tender way. Instead of the eradicated dirtiness, unconsciously I get full of warm affection and mildness. About each occurrences in this movie, however, I cannot describe which scene is the most impressive, the sad, or comical, because I think there is no exactly deliberate scene but just a boy's thought and life with his mother, brother, pet dog, other relative, friends, and other villagers.

The very basic natural humanity is vividly presented through those people. For example the boy, who is the main character, is normally of sensibilities and admirable as a 12 years old child. He is sometimes mischief and shows curiosity about girls, other time weeps missing his mom and his pet dog. While the boy seems to be about to get the sadness over and be going to grow mentally as well in the village. Because the people, to say the least, love to share something amusing with others.

Therefore I say that the heartwarming wonderfulness produced by this movie lies in the whole elements. Any fragment cannot be separated even bright sun ray particle in a car, roof fixing noise, and so on. Every details have a reason for being in the movie actually, so feeling moved comes slowly and deeply, top that off, gently. To get a mild temper, this is one of superb movies. For me, this is the best.