Tillsammans (2000)

In 1975, the dynamics of a Swedish commune begin to change upon the arrival of a beaten wife and her two kids.

Director:

Lukas Moodysson

Writer:

Lukas Moodysson

Stars:

Lisa Lindgren, Michael Nyqvist, Emma Samuelsson

14 wins & 14 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Lisa Lindgren	...	Elisabeth
Michael Nyqvist	...	Rolf
Emma Samuelsson	...	Eva
Sam Kessel	...	Stefan
Gustaf Hammarsten	...	Göran
Anja Lundqvist	...	Lena
Jessica Liedberg	...	Anna
Ola Rapace	...	Lasse (as Ola Norell)
Axel Zuber	...	Tet
Shanti Roney	...	Klas
Olle Sarri	...	Erik
Cecilia Frode	...	Signe
Lars Frode	...	Sigvard
Emil Moodysson	...	Måne
Henrik Lundström	...	Fredrik

Storyline

It is the 70s and a group of very different individuals live together as a community. One of the members sister, Elisabeth needs a new place to stay with her children after having had enough of her alcoholist and abusive husband. Elisabeth is neither a socialist, feminist or into the green movement but ends up loving living in the community where they all learn from eachother. The film makes a little fun of people with strong ideals and "square" minds whether they be vegans, communists or people who absolutely disgust vegans or socialists, in the end the message of the film is that people can grow and gain from bonding with eachother. It also shows how we need to shape up a little for this to work, either through working with own behaviour that affects other people badly (like alcoholism or abuse) or the need to set up own boundaries and not let other people walk all over oneself.

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Plot Keywords:

commune | 14 year old | male frontal nudity | watching tv | neighbor | 

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Taglines:

one house; one revolutionary; two open straight marriages; three gay people (maybe four); three children; two carnivores and eight vegetarians; there's only one way they're going to make it... together

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for nudity/sexuality and language

Details

Country:

Sweden Denmark Italy

Language:

Swedish

Release Date:

21 September 2001 (USA)

Also Known As:

Together

Filming Locations:

Trollhättan, Västra Götalands län, Sweden

Box Office

Budget:

SEK 17,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$506,479 (Sweden), 27 August 2000, Limited Release

Opening Weekend USA:

$24,115, 26 August 2001, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$1,069,156, 3 August 2003

Company Credits

Production Co:

Memfis Film,Zentropa Entertainments,Film i Väst

Technical Specs

Runtime:

106 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The character of Birger, played by Sten Ljunggren, previously appeared in Lukas Moodysson's short film Bara prata lite (1997) which focused on him.

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Quotes

Tet: Is your mom a lesbian?
Stefan: What?
Tet: Mine is, and is probably in love with yours.

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Connections

Referenced in Lilya 4-Ever (2002)

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Soundtracks

Så mycket bättre
Written by Ted Gärdestad and Kenneth Gärdestad
Performed by Ted Gärdestad
Med tillstånd av Universal Music Publishing AB / Universal Music AB

User Reviews

A brilliant heart-warming treat.

One of the most anticipated movies this year, Tillsammans offers a moving, funny, and evocative document of life in the mid-70s. Set in Stockholm, its story follows the interconnected lives of the residents of a left-wing community and captures the difficulties of building and keeping relationships in a crowded environment.

Writer-director Lukas Moodysson's follow-up to the hugely acclaimed debut Fucking Åmål (a.k.a. Show Me Love) presents a definite crowd-pleaser and a sharp piece of story-telling (closer to British East is East than The Ice Storm). Tillsammans (=together) effectively develops its central theme of friendship and strong solidarity blending 70s nostalgia, sexuality, curiosity, loneliness, and hilarious comedy into an engaging emotional quilt. Once again confirming Moodysson's knack for conveying human emotions and creating hugely likeable characters.

The performances are uniformly excellent (by an almost completely unknown cast) -outstanding are Lisa Lindgren (Elisabeth) igniting the screen as a self-discovering mother, Sten Ljunggren (Birger) as a lonely depressed old man, Gustaf Hammarsten (Göran) as the biggest namby-pamby ever seen, Michael Nyqvist (Rolf) as an alcoholic and abusive father and Jessica Liedberg as the new-born lesbian Anna.

The sense of time and place are never lost in this witty, dramatic story filled with historical references and Moodysson's hand-held documentary style heightens the real feel no end.

Funny, recognizable and on occasion deeply moving, this is Swedish cinema actually worth shouting about. Tillsammans is simply one of the greatest films of the last several years and regarding the strong audience response at the screening I attended, it will no doubt enjoy a long career and attract a mass audience. I can't wait for Moodysson's next film project.