Dag och natt (2004)

Thomas has decided to die, and spends his last day driving around to say good-bye to everybody, his son, wife, mistress and all others. Nobody understands that this good-bye is definite, and still he says things they will never forget.

Director:

Simon Staho

Writers:

Peter Asmussen, Per Nielsen (storyline consultant)

Stars:

Mikael Persbrandt, Sam Kessel, Maria Bonnevie

2 wins & 11 nominations.

Cast

Credited cast:
Mikael Persbrandt	...	Thomas
Sam Kessel	...	Emil
Maria Bonnevie	...	Sarah
Michael Nyqvist	...	Jacob
Lena Endre	...	Anna
Hans Alfredson	...	Bilisten
Pernilla August	...	Eva
Fares Fares	...	Kristian
Marie Göranzon	...	Modern
Tuva Novotny	...	Desiré
Erland Josephson	...	Berättare (voice)
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Sanna Vic	...	Gatuflicka (as Sandra Hila)

Storyline

DAY AND NIGHT is about people that love and want to be loved. It's the story of a father, his young son, his unfaithful wife, her secret lover, his young mistress, his lonely sister, his forgetful mother, a fanatic football coach, a pregnant whore and an angel disguised as an old man. They are all looking for the answer to the same question: "If love is the answer - what is the question?"

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Plot Keywords:

sister | mistress | senility | mother son relationship | father son relationship | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Official Sites:

Official Site [Sweden]

Country:

Sweden Denmark

Language:

Swedish

Release Date:

6 August 2004 (Sweden)

Also Known As:

Day and Night

Filming Locations:

Gothenburg, Västra Götalands län, Sweden

Company Credits

Production Co:

Sonet Film AB, Film i Väst, Hepp Film

Technical Specs

Runtime:

95 min 95 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

AIK (short for Allmänna Idrottsklubben), the soccer (football) team Kristian supports, is part of the Allsvenskan League (the top level league) in Sweden, as is Malmo, the other team he mentions.

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Goofs

In several shots the water/steam on the car windows varies greatly between cuts.

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Soundtracks

Cantus in Memory of Benjamin Britten
Written by Arvo Pärt
Performed by Magyar Állami Operaház Zenekara (as Hungarian State Opera Orchestra)

User Reviews

To be or not to be, that is his dilemma

It is a well-known fact that the better one lives, the higher one's living standards, the more suicides there are. Such that in extremely poor countries, suicide does not exist; instead these impoverished people die in civil wars and wide-spread famine. So it is with no surprise that this film in question is Swedish, dealing as it does in such a delicate theme as suicide.

Thomas sets out to visit and say good-bye to those around him - his mother, his wife, her lover, his young son, his sister, his lover........only to find his problems - never very clearly defined - are no worse than theirs.

Cleverly filmed, more than 80% of the film is made while he is driving his car, day and night, around Stockholm and its hinterland, the main characteristic of the film is the splendid characteriological interpretations of the actors and the impact of this rather dramatical denouncement: the message is clear. Where in the supposedly civilised and advanced world we crowd our lives with such benefits as a 'beautiful car', high spending-power, advanced technology, and so on, we are losing something which is far more important: the ability to communicate with those around us, the capacity to feel mutual sentiments, empathy with those persons who participate in our daily lives. All this has gone, ironically, with the arrival of so many different electronic means of contacting people all over the place. The world has gone mad: we cannot communicate with our loved ones, the people dearest to us. We communicate with a phone, a mobile (cellular), TV, radio, satellites, electronic mail and all the advantages of Internet, and other ingenious inventions, but face to face or side by side, those deepest human feelings like saying 'I love you', seem to have become outdated.

This is the case with Thomas; evidently he has lost contact with his mother, his wife, his sister, and even his lover is obviously disconnected from the ravages that Thomas is suffering. The end is horrendously predictable - and orchestrated - with terrifying thunder to aid and abett the outcome, such that there is no surprise. However, it is in the way the film is enacted and carried out that it scores - and scares. Those long hours mostly filmed at the steering-wheel express Thomas' dilemma, however incomprehensible it may be, which forces him into deciding whether to be or not to be.