Everlasting Moments (2008)

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 8 wins & 15 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 Heribertson	...	Maja Larsson (narration) / Aunt Tora (as Birte Heribertsson)
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 | alcoholic | 1900s | contessa camera | 

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Genres:

Drama | History

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Certificate:

Not Rated

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:

EUR4,773,906 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$40,443, 8 March 2009

Gross USA:

$610,825

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$3,383,108

Company Credits

Production Co:

Blind Spot Pictures Oy, Filmpool Nord, Final Cut Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

131 min 106 min (short)

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

In the UK this film would have received a 12 or 12A certificate but one instance of very strong language meant that under BBFC rules a 15 certificate was deemed necessary.

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Connections

Features Easy Street (1917)

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Soundtracks

Meditation from Thais
Composed by Jules Massenet

User Reviews

it's PIFF PUFF POOF, and if life is beautiful, so is this moving film

Everlasting Moments (2008)

This is a vivid, unsentimental, yet tender and loving portrayal of a Swedish seaside family in the early 20th Century. The brute is the father of the family, and yet he is fun and sometimes loving. The heroine is the mother, who suffers greatly, but who also can never quite break free of her husband. The children grow up and prosper, modestly, anyway, over the 15 years of the movie. And we come to see that this is pretty much the most common story of a working class family from that period, anywhere.

And there is a small extra interest, because the mother discovers a camera among the family things, and is persuaded to learn how to use it. The scenes, interspersed over the years, where she takes pictures and develops them in a makeshift darkroom are beautiful, and yet they are not (thankfully) overblown into something momentous and artistically profound.

My field happens to be the History of Photography, which I teach at a couple colleges here in Albany, and I have to say, they nailed the historical accuracy very well. I can't say for sure about when that camera was made, but it seems about right. More importantly, I can say that the style of the photographs is really typical for a talented, serious, dabbling amateur such as our leading woman. The size, the clarity, her care in holding it (even turning it horizontally for a key photograph), and the procedure in general is quite exactly how I would have advised a moviemaker to go about it. This helps not only people in the know (there aren't so many of us, I realize) but in general an historical validity in the bones of the movie.

As elegant as the movie is filmed (almost to excess, in a few scenes--the cinematography outclassed by the simple, gorgeous use of light throughout), it comes across as hard and true. The film is beautiful, but life is beautiful. It's not easy, it involves losing some battles, it involves giving up some dignity, but if you stay the course, as these people do in ways most contemporary families would not, there is some other kind of reward.