All Things Fair (1995) User Reviews

More films of this standard are desirable

[raymond-15 · 8/10 · 12 June 2003]

How much I regret the passing of director Bo Widerberg who can create a film such as this one with its dramatic portrayal of human problems, human relationships and human emotions. It was not so much the dialogue but more the unspoken words that grabbed my attention and held me to the end. A long silence can be filled with meaning....a stolen look, a fleeting glance, a flicker of a smile, a movement of the eye....all these subtle messages electrify the air between Viola the teacher and Stig the student in the class room. We know at once that in some magical way their lives have been drawn together and as we are caught up in the drama we seem to know that eventually the ending will not be a happy one.

Under the guise of having special coaching lessons, Stig gains entrance into his married teacher's household after his evening cinema job. Shy at first he soon experiences the delights of a continuing relationship with Viola who is a very competent teacher in all respects. Perhaps we can pardon Viola for her "cradle snatching" when we find out that her husband has taken to drink and seems almost permanently drunk.

The love scenes are sensitively handled and the remarkable changes which develop in the characters create an imposing piece of cinema. Stig seems to take on a degree of security in a scene where he accuses the husband of the impossible situation. But who is really to blame? That is the intriguing part of the film.

There are some aspects that are not explained thus the viewer becomes involved. As for the stolen encyclopaedia, why would Stig carry them off. Is he just in a vindictive mood and does it just to annoy Viola or have those volumes become special to him because they belonged to Viola.

Mediocre, middling

[stephanlinsenhoff · 8/10 · 2 August 2013]

Bo Widerbergs last movie All Things fair, the male lead is the directors son. It is the love fall between Stig, 15 and his teacher, Viola 37. 1942 in the Swedish town Malmö. The 1955-movie with the same theme is based on a true story ... while in the shadow of the moralizing the love affair between a students with the principals wife develops: "Så tuktas kärleken" with the yesterday-famous (even A Hitchcock heard of) the blonde Karin Ekelund. Significant for Bo Widerbergs movie is the students search for knowledge. He is in the classroom, searching for a word in the schools dictionaries. Enters the teacher, asking what he does and telling him the meaning of the word he looks for: middling/mediocre. He reads: "Latin, mediocre, person of moderate ability, work of no particular value." It is the beginning of their relationship: working class boy vs middle class woman. Primary not a love affair between them but she as the door to knowledge the working class is forbidden to have. The teachers guiding part, as member of the upper class, owns the power of knowledge. The end of their love story is not that her husband discovers their affair (he accepts what is going on) but the friendship between her husband and her lover that triggers her jealousy and ends the affair between upper and working class: doomed from its start. Who was used and who ...? She uses her power against the powerless. She tells the schools principal that Stig has to repeat his year and the principal tells Stig after the decision: "we are all in agreement that you should repeat the third year next term."

The celebration in church of the schools years with the distribution of the certificates. The teacher in the place of the priest in front of the altar, calling the name/s of the pupil/s. Stig in his weekdays outfit enters, approaching her. We see only parts of his obscene gestures in front of his paralyzed teacher, Viola. He leaves the church, heading for the school. The doors are locked, entering as the working class boy he is by the cellar. He forces the classrooms door and takes the books. The books, the symbol for knowledge that always belonged to the ruling class. The last scene: above the schools entrance are carved in stone the sentence: Fear of the Lord is the Beginning of Wisdom. In two bags he carries the books: the wisdom that now belongs even to him, the working class Their relation was a wisdom-encounter and a time limited human encounter. It ended when Stig befriended with her husband. Stig is played by the editors/directors son. Some parts are autobiographic.

a surprise

[jugophon · 7/10 · 16 December 1999]

I caught this film on Canadian television, and I was startled by the risque content being broadcast on a non-pay station. This is a story of a growing adolescent boy in a war-torn Europe. The focus of the movie is in the complex relationships he holds with the people in his life. The controversial nature may deter the more conservative American; however, the characters are well-rounded and acted and the cinematography is superb. I have a feeling this director may be famous in his home country, there is a touch of epic brilliance in the movement of the scenes.

good coming-of-age film

[cogs · 20 June 2002]

"All Things Fair" is a strange kind of film because it is always transforming itself. While it always remains a coming-of-age film it ranges in its focus, touching on many different expressions. Obviously this makes it hard to categorise, hard to follow, hard to analyse, and all this seems to add up to a good thing. It starts out so luridly that I thought I was in for a Swedish version of "Private Lessons" but somehow it manages to continually evolve into something quite else. The changes in pace and locus give the narrative a certain elliptical feel which consolidate the nostalgic representation. Pretty good performances all round and some unexpected twists in the tale make it well worthwhile.

Something lacking, something unsaid

[stefan-144 · 6/10 · 9 January 2003]

This was to be director Widerberg's last movie. A sweet family farewell, since his son played the lead in it. What his last words may be, as expressed in this movie, though, is hard to say. There is no clear moral in it, for which I am thankful, but a somewhat distressing observation about love: it is a close neighbor to hate, and it will not leave without vengeance.

The love affair between the school teacher and the teenage student is interesting when it starts to break up, but its beginning is too swiftly dealt with to make any sense, and its joyous, lustful phase is without depth. Only when things go awry, does the story get interesting, and the actors get to excel in their art.

The title is from a psalm, which is traditionally sung by students when they leave school for the summer break - or for good. It's a hymn to the summer and its luscious splendor - therefore, a lust of another kind, than the carnal one the movie deals with. Some Widerberg irony, no doubt.

Using his son as the student in the movie, was not that good an idea, although Johan Widerberg has a rare charisma on screen, and his own odd talent in acting. His father seems not to have been able to treat his son with the same merciless exploitation, as he was quite apt to do with other actors. So, the student is left hanging in a kind of vacuum, as if empty of his own intentions and conflicts. Things happen to him, as if he had nothing to do with them.

In this type of drama, it is important that the characters are stripped naked - well, mainly their souls, but bodies too, if need be. Widerberg manages the latter with his son, briefly, but not at all the former. When wanting to protect his son, he actually abandons him - for no other reason than the inhibitions in his own fatherhood. Johan, on the other hand, seems to be prepared to do any sacrifice necessary, to make the movie work.

I could be wrong. But the impression remains: the student's story never really gets to be told, because he is not allowed to be present, completely.

To be young and in love with your teacher!

[DukeEman · 7/10 · 6 September 2009]

This is the life most men wish they had - an affair with their teacher. But all were not so pretty as the one in here. It's a coming of age story set in a time when men were going off to die in wars and those left behind were trying to make sense of it all in a society that was slowly crumbling. More complicated than now but still relevant in today's youth. All handled brilliantly by the Swedish director, Bo Widerberg, who loves to tell his tales in sensual lighting and locations. He sometimes tends to go soapy but held it in line for hi last work of art. Hewas to pass away a couple of years later. But he left us with another tender story for the soul.

A Coming of Age Tale for the Characters and the World

[gradyharp · 10/10 · 6 November 2007]

ALL THINGS FAIR (Lust och fägring stor) turned out to be brilliant Swedish writer/director Bo Widerberg's elegy: after a long history of successful and emotionally captivating films, this film was his last. Watching again some twelve years later gives an entirely different level of appreciation for Widerberg's work. This is a little jewel of a film explores human sexuality at the time of puberty and the enormous impact on the way relationships are viewed, while at the same time it presents a keen insight to the world at war and the equally monstrous side effects in myriad ways.

Malmö, Sweden, 1943. A highschool class of boys is discovering the mysteries of body changes and all-consuming effects puberty has one young teenage men. Outside the classroom World War II threatens and inside the classroom puberty threatens. 15 year old Stig (Johan Widerberg) is a handsome, curious lad from a poor family who discovers his first female attraction in the form of his new 37 year old teacher Viola (Marika Lagercrantz), who, despite the impropriety of the situation added to the fact that she is married to a traveling salesman Kjell (Tomas von Brömssen) who spends his idle hours drinking and listening to classical music in the kitchen, returns the seductive dance and soon the two are in a physically involved affair. The beauty and fresh novelty of their feelings is captured in the most magical way with little dialog, many embarrassed glances, and significant risks that eventually include Kjell's discovery of their trysts. But as the two are discovered many changes occur: Stig's beloved soldier brother Sigge (Björn Kjellman) finally goes off to submarine warfare, Viola becomes less involved and senses the problem she has created, Stig falls under the spell of the tragic Kjell learning music and more from this pathetic man, and Stig finally must face the realities of more proper attraction to Lisbet (Karin Huldt) a girl his own age.

The actors are superb, the settings are atmospheric, and the era of the 1940s Sweden is perfectly represented. Part of the joy of the film is the musical score that varies from a Handel aria during moments love making, to Brahms' 'Ein Deutsches Requiem', to Mahler's 5th Symphony 'Adagietto', to Beethoven's 'Grosse Fugue.' Widerberg makes it all work in a misty yet sensuous manner. It is a film to own and one to watch often. In Swedish with English subtitles. Grady Harp

I thought it would never end

[=G= · 6/10 · 10 May 2004]

"All Things Fair" has much good to offer. However, it flunks on story with a full hour dedicated to painfully slow character/plot development which focuses more on tedious trivialities than character depth. About an hour into this unnecessarily long filler-filled film the plot breaks loose when the protag, an early teen student, kisses his teacher and finds her all too receptive to his advances. From there it's in and out of the sack while dodging the teacher's husband and the advances of one of his school mates who wants to loose her virginity to him. If that weren't far fetched enough, given the boy's almost complete absence of charisma or personality, the teacher goes through a hard to swallow change of character - as we've been led to understand it - while the film grinds on with a complicating subplot having to do with a brother and WWII. When the end of this 2+ hour coming of age flick finally arrives it leaves us with a trite moral which seems to be: Don't grow up too fast as things will get complicated soon enough. "All Things Fair" may play well with film buffs into Scandinavian minimalism. However, for audiences in general, this flick is a very pretty example of too little too late. (C+)

Bo Widerberg passes cinema baton to his son

[GMeleJr · 9/10 · 13 May 1999]

Bo Widerberg was honored in February 1997 at the Miami Film Festival with a retrospective (ELVIRA MADIGAN), and his latest (last?) film, the Oscar nominated ALL THINGS FAIR. I then saw ALL THINGS FAIR for the second time, and despite its length, enjoyed it as much or more than the first time I saw it in an arthouse theatre in Toronto. I think ALL THINGS FAIR is the great Swedish director's best, most personal film. You can't help but notice it must be autobiographical by the passion and the vivid recreation of WW II Sweden, as it was when Mr. Wideberg himself was the lead character's age. Speaking of him, the lead is the director's own 17 year old son, Johan Widerberg, who will undoubtedly carry on the family tradition in Swedish cinema history. Mr. Widerberg (Sr.) passed away last year, and among his legacy, this film stands out. It is a rare coming of age story in a setting seldom depicted on screen. Mr. Wideberg's screenplay, and direction, plus excellent performances by his son and two of Sweden's greats, Marika Lagerkrantz and Tomas van Bromssen make this a movie every European film buff should watch. It's now available on video. Check it out.

An emotional movie...

[paul_haakonsen · 6/10 · 19 December 2015]

I will start by saying that running at 2 hours, which was a bit too long, "Lust och Fägring Stor" (aka "All Things Fair") is a movie that is somewhat of an acquired taste. I found the movie to be interesting and well-told, although it could have used a trimming to cut Down a lot of the unnecessary fillings.

The story is about a 15 year old student who seduces his 37 year old classroom teacher. The story is set in Sweden during the 2nd World War in 1943.

The movie has some good acting performances, and it is carried nicely by the two lead talents Johan Widerberg and Marika Lagercrantz. And they were joined by an equally strong supporting act by Thomas Von Brömssen.

"Lust och Fägring Stor" deals with the taboo of love and lust between an adolescent and an adult, which might be a bit too much for some people. But it also deals with sibling love between brothers, as well as the journey from adolescence to adulthood.

This is one of the more hard-punching movies in Swedish cinema. Some might even claim that the movie appeals to a very select audience. But I would say that if you enjoy cinema with a deeper profound story and meaning then you should take two hours to watch "Lust och Fägring Stor".

Good movie; somewhat unconvincing ending

[Kiwuck · 9/10 · 26 April 2001]

I watched this movie on the Canadian Broadcasting Company network last night. I liked it a lot, but thought the ending was weak. I wonder if that was because I don't understand Swedish? It was not clear to me why Stig thought Viola was a liar. I also did not see why he would take the set of dictionaries from the classroom right at the end. If it was an act of rebellion, it was not a very powerful one.

However, that being said, I thought it was a beautifully crafted movie, well acted and otherwise convincing. I thought Kjell was excellently developed as a character, giving a realistic portrayal of a frustrated and lonely salesman, turning to drink in an effort to forget his inner demons.

I would recommend this movie to anyone who thought that Summer of 42 was good. This movie is better - and I loved Summer of 42.

technically well-made but disturbing on many levels

[planktonrules · 6/10 · 15 November 2005]

Technically speaking, this is an excellent film---with exceptional acting, direction, etc. However, as the main theme involves the sexual exploitation of a teen by his teacher, it is NOT exactly Disney fair! Apart from having a very adult theme and a fair amount of nudity, I felt very disturbed when the main character (Stig) had other sexual encounters with an apparently younger girl he knew from school. These scenes are awfully graphic and the girl appears to be about 12 years-old. I couldn't help but wonder if pedophiles would be particularly attracted to this film because of this. I really think these encounters COULD have been included but just not made so explicit. In a way, it seems almost like the director and producers may have sexually exploited this girl--as she was apparently well under the age of consent--even with her parents' permission.

I love this movie so much!

[iota74 · 11 January 2000]

I watched this movie by VCD and was so greatly touched by it that I watched it over and over again. There are much more I could feel than what I can put down for now. I really would like to know more about the story, its background and any information about the excellent actors and actress. What I have downloaded from the Internet was far from enough, even worse, most of them are written in Swedish. This totally denied me from having a better understanding of the movie. Unfortunately, I failed to get a Swedish-English/Chinese dictionary to help me out. (There is only a very brief one in Shanghai Foreign Book Trader with a price as high as 260 RMB).

With all my knowledge so far, I think this movie is great in depicting how a youngster copes with whatever comes to him. Despite the sadness and confusion that he has gone through, he also gets the strength out of a kind of impotency. I really admire these artists of their talent in showing us the richness of life and in an elegant and natural way. In my eyes, there should be two kinds of arts: one is what "is", and the other is what "should be". As far as I've seen, many movies are relegated to what is not and what should not be. I just want to ask a favor to whomever you are, if you can help me with a Swedish dictionary and more about the movie. Of course, most importantly, your personal opinion about it.

Widerberg delivers again, one of the defining films on teacher-student relationships

[Horst_In_Translation · 6/10 · 22 April 2019]

"Lust och fägring stor" or "All Things Fair" or "Love Lessons" is a Swedish movie from 1995 and this was the last movie made by Bo Widerberg around 2 years before his rather untimely death. Still that makes it almost 25 years old now, maybe more even depending on when you read this review. Anyway, Widerberg is considered to be one of the best Swedish filmmakers of all time, perhaps right behind Bergman in the food chain. Now lets take a look at this film here. It is really long, runs for 2 hours and 10 minutes and this was Sweden's official Oscar submission that year and it managed a nomination in a year when the Netherlands won the category. As for the cast, Widerberg picked his own son Johan for the main character here and the female protagonist is played by Marika Lagercrantz. Johan Widerberg was a few years older than the character he played and his female counterpart Lagercrantz also did not look 40 in this film. By the way, both have managed really strong careers afterward and they are both still going strong having appeared in a handful of prestigious and successful films. So their movie turning out more than just alright here does not come as a surprise to me. Now let me tell you a bit about the story and what I liked and what I did not like that much. This is the story of a student who gets closer to his new teacher and the two are having an affair. Well, that is of course because of the scandalous nature what is most talked about here. But the teacher's husband and his relationship with the student is also pretty interesting (not in a romantic sense of course) and also 2 or 3 other subplots. It needs to be said that this film plays during World War II, but this barely has an impact on the story. The one exception is the main character's brother who fights in the Swedish Army. And who dies eventually in a prestigious submarine. (That this part does not feel too memorable also has to do with the weak idea of secrent message communication between the brothers.) On one occasion, you can also hear a speech by Adolf Hitler. There's more references. I guess this background helped the film in getting some awards recognition as WWII is always (Oscar) bait. But to me personally, this background was really not defining at all in terms of the story. It could have played years later as well, maybe even in the now and the plot would not have been different. Or not vastly different lets say.

It starts with a class full of students experiencing puberty and wondering how many times a male moves in and out the female during intercourse. And there's other relatively childish stuff involving sexuality (pay attention to the Jew reference on one occasion that clearly establishs the male protagonist as a good guy) and, on the non-sexual side, about chewing gum. So the boys' heads were filled with stuff that all other boys' heads are filled with too during that age, not just those by Swedes during wartime. Things move a bit away from these students and the focus drifts towards our "hero" and his secretly significant other. The two get closer and start having an affair, which is first love for the boy. Or just sex? When the two drift apart eventually, he says it meant nothing to him except satisfying his desires and it felt credible the way he said it. One reason for that is the boy expressing sexual interest in girls his age or younger. There is the girl who undresses for him at the family party and he sleeps with her eventually too and realizes that girls his age are maybe more interesting than a woman 20-25 years his senior, even if he can learn a lot from her and obviously did. That scene when he and the girl his age are in hiding during the PE lesson is pretty hilarious and fairly cute too. Maybe the biggest fun moment and one of really very few comedy moments this film has to offer and that one also has a certain charm as the girl was pretty likable too. Anyway, there are many other more serious scenes. I already mentioned the main character's brother and what the woman does with the boy, even if he consents is also somewhat worrying. And lets not forget her man. His struggles with his work and the alcoholism that comes along with it and I am pretty sure he knows what's going on between his wife and the student because he is not stupid, just treated badly by life, but does not dare to say something really because then he would lose it all probably and have nothing, nobody, not realizing that his marriage is really long gone. I initially struggled with the man growing relatively close with his wife's lover, but the longer it went the more realistic and authentic it felt, also because the actor (van Brömssen) was very good, at least as good and memorable as the two in the lead, with considerably less screen time quite an achievement. If we move on towards the end chronolgically, the idea of her fighting him hard after it is basically over felt realistic too and impressed me even more as I did not see it coming. I had no idea where the film was heading. I thought maybe a slow drifting apart without a big boom, but the boom was somewhat there and it meant that the male protagonist had to repeat one year of school and the teacher got away with it. No feel-good ending overall, but those who like happy ending will appreciate the scene how he takes a bit of revenge with his zipper in public. You know which one I meant. And I sure did not expect the teacher to turn into such a b!tch (not sure this word is prohibited here on imdb for reviews, but I absolutely do not want to use another because it is 100% accurate and hits the nail on the head) eventually. So as a whole, I was well entertained here. It never really dragged and these over 2 hours flew by. There's not much negative I can say here. The film did not connect with me that I would say it was really great or one of the year's best for me, but there were moments when it came fairly close to this evaluation. But the last 20-30 minutes meant for me that it was "only" a good watch, not a great one. Still says a lot that Sweden made films like this one on the subject of teachers getting involved with students and well Germany makes that fairly terrible Schweighöfer film when he was pretty young. But I don't want to remember the latter, so lets have a few more words on this one here. However, there is not too much to say other than I am glad it got the Oscar nomination because it is a pretty good film and Widerberg did go out on a high note. May he rest in peace. I am glad I got the chance to see this one as part of a film series here in a local theater and I am also glad I decided to go watch it after initial hesitation. You should do the same. It's absolutely worth it. Thumbs up!

Heart in the right place

[djmmccorkell · 6/10 · 30 December 2014]

The core story, a young teacher with a disassociated husband, falling in love with one of her pupils is sound. Despite some lurid aspects to the first act, the subject it approached very well.

The turning point comes in a brief scene mid-movie between the husband and the young lover, where it's revealed that the husband knows all the comings and goings of his wife. It's a beautiful piece of cinema - the confrontation between a man and a boy who thinks he's a man.

After that point, what was a sensitive coming-of-age movie goes downhill fast. There's an awkward moment between the lead and a minor character that probably gained the movie more controversy than it was worth. After that, nothing of interest.

Sex and complexity...oh those Euro flicks

[E Canuck · 9/10 · 26 April 2001]

Watching "All Things Fair" as it showed on TV here in Canada on CBC public network last night, was a treat. Only my sensible, nagging partner coaxing me to get to bed on a work night persuaded me we could trust the VCR to tape the last hour or so. Fortunately for his neck, the tape ran out during the closing credits and not before!

What I liked most about the film (with English subtitles) was the complexity of Sig's world and his relationships. It's a very real world feeling on screen, full of quirky believability, despite Sig's unusual arrangement with his teacher.

Though I know of a real life story resembling Sig's relationship with his teacher that went very differently for the teacher--ending in her virtual ruin--the behaviour of these film characters, the outcome and the aftermath, rings true nonetheless. No character is one-dimensional, even though the film schools us to sympathize with the choices of some and to repudiate others.

It's delightful to find in the credits that the director gave the plum lead role to his son. It takes an admirable trust, I think, to turn over a role like this to one's own young kin, complete with whatever there is in the script that MIGHT be autobiographical.

The female solo vocals in the soundtrack were wonderful. Now, I just need to found out who was singing like a bell whenever love or pain swelled in the story.

Imagine

[jonasbass · 7/10 · 16 June 2023]

Imagine if the roles where reversed and it was an older man being with a 15year old girl.

The movie would be boycotted and seen as disgusting.

As a boy this was sometimes the daydream to happen to oneself. But as a grown man this is a disgusting thought.

And if It would happen to my non existent son or daughter I would do horrible things to the grown people involved with my kids.(hypothetically speaking since I don't have kids)

But yeah good movie, it's a Swedish classic and I think slot of people oughta watch it, makes you really think.

I now bid you farewell and this is the end of my review.

A beautiful film

[Flabbergastedly · 10/10 · 4 March 2005]

I touches you, moves you and the imagery and music is fantastic. even though it could be perceived as risqué in America, Europe raises no eyebrows of the imagery or hinted developments. The eyebrows are raised by the deeper thread and cross-human references. Who has not been attracted to someone they shouldn't - an authority. And what has this brought along with it? Will the authority fall or will your image and strength of life expand building upon newer degrees of intensity?

I realise that it can be difficult to follow the film, if you do not speak Swedish (or any Scandinavian language), but this should not deter you from seeing this film.

loved the dark atmosphere

[feniziarra · 6/10 · 11 August 2021]

"...both sexes are stirred by nature towards mating more easily than before, when they scarcely noticed the differences between them."

think twice if you are gonna watch the movie for ww2 from Sweden's perspective because it has nothing to do with war aside from a couple of scenes. But you are in the right place if you are watching it for physical and lust oriented love. It was a pleasure to watch.

The Greatest Film of All Time?

[Bloke without a Favourite Colour · 10/10 · 31 December 2002]

I may write one or more spoilers below.

This film is absolutely superb. I have watched literally thousands of films, and this is one of the very best, if not *the* best film I have ever seen. But out of 656 votes for this film that have appeared on this site at the time of writing, only 135 of them are a 10 (out of 10). (I voted for this film and gave it a 10 of course.) So evidently a lot of people disagree with me. Why is this? I don't know, but I suspect strongly the fact that this film is not in English and has no actor or actress in it who is a star in the English-speaking world is part of the answer.

Anyway, on to why this film is perhaps the greatest of all time. Well, first, it has an absolutely enthralling, extremely enjoyable, absorbing, logical, and coherent plot in which one totally loses oneself. But a lot of films have that. It also has completely believable, realistic, three-dimensional, fully fleshed-out, fascinating, irresistible, absolutely delicious characters of great psychological depth who the viewer really cares about and whose actions, thoughts, feelings, and situations one can strongly sympathise and deeply identify with. Other films have that. It is filmed in a truly magnificent, highly technically-proficient, beautiful, elegant, and satisfying style. But several other films have that too. It has an important, fundamental, universal and very human theme. A few other films, perhaps, have that as well. But this film, triumphantly, also has superlative direction and world-beating actors and actresses who are completely at ease and comfortable with their roles which they seem to slip into effortlessly, and whose performances have never been bettered and are all the more remarkable considering the age of some of them. And, as if all this were not enough, this film is at all times open, innocent, honest, and consistent, and at no times hackneyed, cowardly, patronising, or self-censoring. I'm not sure any other film has all these qualities in addition to all of the ones aforementioned.

This is not like most films, which, however believable and realistic, are still obviously films: staged productions with endings already pre-set from the beginning and people who aren't living out their own real lives but are instead acting out the imaginary lives of fictitious personalities. No, this, more than being merely entirely believable and realistic, is moreover like a slice of real life actually being carried out as you are watching it by real people who are living out their own real lives.

This film is, in short, an absolute must-see, especially, perhaps, for youngsters. It goes to prove, once and for all, that, contrary to what many people seem to think, there is more to non-English-language films than just Seven Samurai. Moreover, it is yet another example that demonstrates the fact that English-language films are, in general, vastly inferior, and that those lazy, nationalistic, tunnel-visioned viewers who refuse to read subtitles are missing out on a veritable Babette's Feast of viewing pleasure, and may be watching their films in widescreen, but are choosing them while wearing blinkers.

----------------

Comments on the above review are always appreciated, especially those from people who have seen this film.

A provocative and intricate movie

[crimson_star-00930 · 7/10 · 16 March 2024]

When reading the synopsis, Bo Widerberg's film evokes understandable skepticism, but as soon as the final credits appear on the screen, and you remember everything that you literally experienced in these 2-and-a-half hours with the hero, it becomes clear that this is not an ordinary drama about romance between a student and a teacher.

The Swedish city of Malmo, at the height of World War II. The pretty middle-aged teacher Viola gets a job at the school where the main character, 15-year-old Stig, studies. These two character decide to get closer with each other, mostly due to the teacher's advances.

Of course, such a relationship is doomed from the very beginning: it goes against morality, against society. However, the actors are providing a very believable and masterful performance.

The biggest advantages of the film are in the acting, Vinderberg Jr. Is very handsome and charismatic. The film's musical accompaniment and script are also okay. I was glad to spend my time watching this film, and I remain very pleased and impressed.

Imagine if the genders were reversed or both the teacher an the child were male, you would see it clearly as rape.

[random-70778 · 11 July 2019]

Rape is rape. The "love scenes" are rape. Imagine if the genders were reversed or both the teacher an the child were male, you would see it clearly as rape. Teachers have authority and power over children and just like in the US -- in Sweden it is legally rape for a teacher in a school to have sex with a minor child who attends that school. There is no age under 18 where a minor may consent with a teacher

Again if the genders were reversed in this and it were some 35 or 40 year old guy teacher and his 15-year-old girl student would we be saying, as some reviewers here are, that the "love scenes were "tender" and "beautiful." WTF?

It 's time for disappointment

[Rainzzz · 8/10 · 13 July 2022]

A promising beginning and stupid end. Every time I watch a film about an unusual relationship - I get the same cliche. As if the director wants to say that such a relationship is always doomed. It was as if the director had the courage to make a film on an unusual topic, but there was not enough to bring the thought to the end. And this film is no exception, this stupid, little boy does not deserve such a woman at all. The film has too much cheap morality, but it was necessary to make a film about love and passion.

a perspective on abuse of power

[rlavender4 · 8/10 · 19 June 2020]

This is the first "scandalous adult/teen relationship" movie I've watched. It's interesting that near the beginning when it was only glances/flirtations between Stig and Viola I wasn't necessarily upset by it, but when they crossed the line and kissed I felt complete dread and disgust. I don't really know what to say or how to keep this on track, so I'll just write out what I liked in list form: 1. great acting. All the characters did excellent work. I really liked the character Frank. And the broken bottle scene had me nearly covering my eyes. 2. hair/makeup/costumes. I always love a well executed period piece. They did a good job of establishing characters by the use of costumes. Also, Viola's hair being slightly loose in her first scene (wherein she shows that she's not shocked by the sexual note the boys had been passing, but still establishes her dominance by making Stig clean up his mess) and how she always wore it down when they were seeing each other, and then after the bottle scene when she is speaking with the headmaster she has her hair back in a tight bun, and is wearing a very modest, conservative dress like she's trying to get things back under control. 3. symbolism. Ugh there were so many good metaphors. Like in the stairway when the railing breaks and Stig tries to put the nail/bolt back in the wall and Viola says "here let me help." And when Frank is talking about natural products like wool, leather, and silk versus the new nylon clothing, saying "why would women want to wrap their legs in sandpaper" which works as a metaphor for the difference between he and Stig (stig being both "something new" and also rough and unpolished in his sexual experience). And I feel like the scene neat the end when the cuckoo clock spits alcohol all over Viola and ruins whatever she was writing could mean something. And at the end when Stig steals the dictionaries that he first used as a pretense to spend extra time with viola it shows that he was taking whatever he could salvage from the ultimately damaging relationship, specifically knowledge.

okay, some things I didn't love: 1. I felt like the female characters could have been more fleshed out. Like the explanation for Viola's behavior is that... She's selfish and crazy? She's sad that she's aging maybe? I don't know, I wish they'd delved more into her backstory. But at the same time, we often don't know why abusers abuse. So they could have been purposely leaving her perspective fairly unexamined. And then same with Lisbet... Idk i guess she was just supposed to be a foil fo Viola (young/naive versus mature/calculating). And then Stig's mother. She was likeable, and the part was well acted, but I wonder why they didn't show more of her grief when Sigge died. 2. They opened with an aerial shot of the children playing in the snow outside the school, but I don't remember a lot of other wide or interesting shots besides that. And most of the film took place indoors. I mean, I think the cramped feeling of the film was semi-deliberate, but maybe they could have played around with it a bit more. This isn't a huge gripe for me, just something I noticed. 3. The plane scene near the end was kind of choppy and weird.

Overall this was a chilling look at abusive/pedophilic relationships and I was mostly disturbed by the intimate scenes. A very well done movie.

Moving and thought-provoking !

[ztessler · 7 May 2001]

Watched this movie for the second time and it is a movie that stays a long time in your thoughts. The acting was splendid and third-dimensional. Also, no-one was wholly black or white, all had redeeming features and contributed to a wonderful depiction of the mores of that time.