A disturbing look at gender relations in today's Sweden. On the surface, a silly romp about two sisters - and an apparently emasculated brother, who is left unmentioned on the DVD box - living in an old house in an idyllic garden and whose lives are disrupted by the arrival of a young married couple next door. Without any apparent reason, the husband goes rampant in a violent, destructive manner. In the end, he is restrained by a rather silly parody in papier maché of a Niki de Saint-Phalle's Nana sculpture. Disguised as a harmless comedy, this movie poses serious questions about how polarised relationships have become between men and women in Sweden. With the Hollywood remake of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo being released around the world (whose original Swedish title reads: Men Who Hate Women), one cannot help wondering about the undercurrents of violence in Swedish culture that would produce such a malicious and spiteful view of men as depicted in this film. The acting is pedestrian, at best. The script and direction, genuinely sad.
5 Reviews
Very flawed......
CurtHerzstark18 May 2012
Sexcomedies or comedy dramas about human sexuality are very difficult to make. Either they become too lowbrow or not enough explicit so that the movie-going audience will feel satisfied.
This film is really an example who bad things can really be in the world of comedy. Flat dialogue, flawed storyline and scenes that lead up to nothing.
Story is about a young yuppie couple who are having some difficulties in their sexlife. They move to a new neighbourhood where their nextdoor neighbours are family of freewheeling hippies, that love gardening.
Soon these two families will learn from each other....
Swedish comedy films have rarely been any good, with few exceptions. And things aren't very good here.
The screenwriters and the director really wants to explore human sexuality, relationships, middle-class society but ends up doing low brow comedy that would make Andrew Dice Clay red in the face.
Some nudity but done in a very boring, clinical fashion. Non European viewers may be chocked over frontal nudity but europeans will be sligthly bored.
So watch Human Nature (2001), Teeth (2007), Lucía y el sexo (2001), Sex, Lies, and Videotape (1989) instead.
Even highly flawed films like Sirens (1993), The Oh in Ohio (2006)is better then this.
This film is really an example who bad things can really be in the world of comedy. Flat dialogue, flawed storyline and scenes that lead up to nothing.
Story is about a young yuppie couple who are having some difficulties in their sexlife. They move to a new neighbourhood where their nextdoor neighbours are family of freewheeling hippies, that love gardening.
Soon these two families will learn from each other....
Swedish comedy films have rarely been any good, with few exceptions. And things aren't very good here.
The screenwriters and the director really wants to explore human sexuality, relationships, middle-class society but ends up doing low brow comedy that would make Andrew Dice Clay red in the face.
Some nudity but done in a very boring, clinical fashion. Non European viewers may be chocked over frontal nudity but europeans will be sligthly bored.
So watch Human Nature (2001), Teeth (2007), Lucía y el sexo (2001), Sex, Lies, and Videotape (1989) instead.
Even highly flawed films like Sirens (1993), The Oh in Ohio (2006)is better then this.
The worst Swedish film ever?
lars-992-815065 May 2014
It would have been fine to write this review on Swedish because no one will ever think of dub it into another language or sell it to another market. I have had lots of thought but can not think of a worse movie - neither Swedish or international. "Allt om min buske" lacks action, actor's performance is terrible , it's full of completely implausible events, and it also lacks humor. Just take the episode at the beginning of the movie when the wealthy newcomers wife helps the fat neighbor lady to dump debris in a pond. Suddenly it's nighttime. The two women decide to bathe naked. The wealthy new residents lady's husband is awakened by the sound from the pond, he walks through the forest in the night and sees the women ( one of whom is his wife ) . He then climbs up 30 feet in a tree and sits on a branch and starts masturbating . He falls down . The sperm get stuck on a bush below the neighboring ladies next day believe is mildew and injects the bushes full of poison. The film keeps on like this for almost 2 hours. Pooh. How anyone could get grants to make this rubbish movie is to me inconceivable (the one that gave grants cannot possibly have read the script ) .
Larry David would love this one.
strombacken21 January 2021
A charming film
cijtwzhhh25 October 2007
This is a beautiful, charming and interesting Swedish film about three exotic siblings (one who's a control freak, one who is a lesbian/bisexual and one who eats magic mushrooms) who takes care of a fantastic garden, and their new neighbours who has some problems in their marriage. These problems gets worse when the husband thinks his wife is having an affair with one of the neighbours.
In Sweden it was promoted as a "sex-comedy" but I think that's a bit wrong because this is so much more. It's not one of the best films I've seen but it's really good if you compare it with other recently released Swedish films. And it shows such a beautiful environment.
The acting is mostly good with both famous and new actors in the leading parts.
In Sweden it was promoted as a "sex-comedy" but I think that's a bit wrong because this is so much more. It's not one of the best films I've seen but it's really good if you compare it with other recently released Swedish films. And it shows such a beautiful environment.
The acting is mostly good with both famous and new actors in the leading parts.
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