Platicsco Good story, Not enough for a whole film

Ketrivie It isn't all that great, actually. Really cheesy and very predicable of how certain scenes are gonna turn play out. However, I guess that's the charm of it all, because I would consider this one of my guilty pleasures.

Helloturia I have absolutely never seen anything like this movie before. You have to see this movie.

Invaderbank The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

georgesfields At the end of the movie one finds out who was the dog whose life is being told. It isn't Laika sent in space at the onset of the movie, but the little boy who identifies with his dog who was put to sleep while he was away at his uncle's place. The little boys is from a modest background, grows up like the rest of the town, and faces problems many faced in those years. In his case his mom was sick and his dad was never home (had he ever been home?). At the uncle's place the boy slowly discovers other facets of the world, never losing his grace. Not much of a plot really. When I first heard about it, I thought this movie was going to suck big times, but my girlfriend of the time insisted to go see it. She was right. It isn't the plot, but the events, the pace, the closeness to real life, the innocence of the early years, ... all these things add up to an amazing experience of almost going again through childhood. I am giving it a 9 because, theoretically, there could be better movies out there, although it's gonna be tough to beat this one.

Atreyu_II I thought this was a strange movie. It has so many good critiques that I expected something better. It was good at times, but aside that it was downright dull and with mostly unlikeable characters.Despite being a drama, it isn't as involving and deep as a drama should be. I'd like to sympathize more with the lead character, Ingemar, but I can't always do that. He is hard to evaluate: he isn't annoying, but he ain't sweet peer either. He often seemed like a retard due to his sometimes erratic behavior (such as barking like a dog). Still, he is wonderfully portrayed by the actor Anton Glanzelius.Saga, the tomboy, was another complicated character. She is supposed to like Ingemar, and yet she shows her love for him in a strange manner: by beating him up in a boxing match and hugging him during or after that. She is well played by Melinda Kinnaman.This film makes reference to Laika's story a cup of times. Despite his problems, Ingemar often seeks solace by reciting the tragic story of Laika the space dog. That is one good thing about this film, bringing some poetry and some soul to it.The Swedish film-making and cinematography is another solid point, thanks to the natural beauty of the sunny settings and the characteristic snow and freezy nordic weather.There have been complains about child nudity. What is it with everybody and this paranoia over pedophilia? Just because of one scene of child nudity in a film they already think it's pedophilia. It's scary how people got paranoid.

Christopher Green When a little boy falls through a cottage skylight window while his parents are making love during vacation his father has a heart attack and must go back into The Navy for his Health & Rehabilitation...While The Mother, The Two Sons & Family Dog are living in a Sanatorium from The Two Sons being officially declared Bastards from The Parents Naval ReMarriage, The Mother falls into Poor Health and must go into Convalescence...By this point The Main Character has replaced The Family's Love with The Family Dog's Love...Sent away for Summer Vacation during his Mother's Convalescence, The Main Character once again falls through the same cottage skylight window while watching his relatives have sex...Finally recognizing his stupidity The Main Character falls in LOVE with a Young Lesbian Girl who knows his secret...Masturbation!

fred-houpt I finally got to watch this film from beginning to end last night, after having caught glimpses of it on television. What is there in this film not to love? Beautiful Swedish landscapes in summer and winter. Attractive blond haired children or women. Hilarious eccentrics who spend their entire lives hammering nails into their roof shingles. Children on the cusp of puberty who engage in a completely unrepressed journey of sexual discovery without tilting the film into x-rating.This is a true story based on the life of a real child whose mother was a famous Swedish writer, who had a terrible temper and also died of a disease of the lungs. As a special, there is a delightful interview with the director which is insightful on several levels. He talks about what it was like working with the child actors and how natural they were about their work. He talked about how he only realized how unconsciously hooked into the film he had become after seeing it several years after completion. The reason given was that he too was the child of a famous writer/mom who needed her space and privacy. He too had children and then was divorced. So, on many levels he found the film a cathartic experience AFTER he had watched it in a theater and watched how other people responded.What is clear about this film is that it is charming without being cheap or smarmy. The unpretentious manner in which a touching and sad story is told is such a joyful antidote to the average Hollywood film. Unlike most American films which say too much, are too loud and spoon feed all thinking into the audience with the assumption that we are dumb, insensitive and unable to connect the dots, this drama delights with it's simplicity, allowing the drama to come to us in an unhurried telling. This film won several awards and most deserving it was. At the end we both cry and smile at the outcome. What is strengthening to know, is that the real life boy whose story this is, thrived. A really great film indeed.