"I'm dilated 10 cm. My heart is full. " This is how a 70 minutes discourse ends. Lukas Moodysson called his newest work "a black and white silent movie with sound". The sound is a stream of consciousness discourse that comes to challenge the visual. Images and words combine to render emotions, feelings and thoughts. Questions of homosexuality, transgender personality, abortion, faith, depression, suicide, the misery of postmodern civilization are raised. What sense can someone make in this depressing world? A man in the body of a woman and a woman in the body are living among the remains of a failing world. Religious icons are mixed with plastic fetuses and with human bodies in strange postures. A collapsing world is living inside of the man. The man lives as well in a space that is made by the remains of a glamorous world. Pop culture icons, religion, mass media, war, terrorism, cancer are the stable points of the world that he lives in. Homosexuality is a public disease. Jesus is inside Mary's stomach.
With this film Moodysson challenged some of the most powerful cultural stereotypes that are influencing actual societies. At a certain moment among a huge amount of trash you can see a postal paper bill with the Romtelecom logo, the Romanian public telephone company. Romania is referred several times, directly or indirectly. The most accurate reference is made through the association between Roma people and Romanians, when the character speaks about the roommate that s/he had in Madrid. He was a Gypsy, which means a Roma, but soon he denied it stating that he is Hungarian. However his mate didn't believe him. Apart from this stereotype I mentioned there are some more important ones.
Religion is put face to face with issues that are challenging its importance in nowadays societies. You can see all along the film several Christian Orthodox icons. They are frequently associated with plastic fetuses and it is obvious that this questions the relationship between Church and abortion. Homosexuality and transgender issues that are one of the main ones come to face again the religion.
Pop culture icons are referred continuously in the film raising the problem of the influence that pop culture has in contemporary society. Why is the girl depressed? Maybe because she doesn't look like Christina Aguilera and she will never can. That's why she gets into antidepressants and psychological therapy and she harms herself? Only to realize that every teenage girl does just the same. She's so common after all and she wish to die. The whole world looks like a world of Apocalypse. Nuclear disasters have been replaced by a more powerful threat. Cancer is everywhere.
What can you say when you see such a film? Personally I consider it to be a masterpiece. Moodysson is one of the few directors who are truly experimenting with the cinematic language nowadays and manages to create a highly original and groundbreaking work.
With this film Moodysson challenged some of the most powerful cultural stereotypes that are influencing actual societies. At a certain moment among a huge amount of trash you can see a postal paper bill with the Romtelecom logo, the Romanian public telephone company. Romania is referred several times, directly or indirectly. The most accurate reference is made through the association between Roma people and Romanians, when the character speaks about the roommate that s/he had in Madrid. He was a Gypsy, which means a Roma, but soon he denied it stating that he is Hungarian. However his mate didn't believe him. Apart from this stereotype I mentioned there are some more important ones.
Religion is put face to face with issues that are challenging its importance in nowadays societies. You can see all along the film several Christian Orthodox icons. They are frequently associated with plastic fetuses and it is obvious that this questions the relationship between Church and abortion. Homosexuality and transgender issues that are one of the main ones come to face again the religion.
Pop culture icons are referred continuously in the film raising the problem of the influence that pop culture has in contemporary society. Why is the girl depressed? Maybe because she doesn't look like Christina Aguilera and she will never can. That's why she gets into antidepressants and psychological therapy and she harms herself? Only to realize that every teenage girl does just the same. She's so common after all and she wish to die. The whole world looks like a world of Apocalypse. Nuclear disasters have been replaced by a more powerful threat. Cancer is everywhere.
What can you say when you see such a film? Personally I consider it to be a masterpiece. Moodysson is one of the few directors who are truly experimenting with the cinematic language nowadays and manages to create a highly original and groundbreaking work.