Mitt liv som hund (1985)

Director:

Lasse Hallström

Writers:

Reidar Jönsson (novel)
Lasse Hallström (writer) ...

Release Date:

24 March 1987 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Comedy

Tagline:

Det kunde ha varit värre. Jag har faktiskt haft tur. Om man jämför...

Plot:

A boy and his brother don't get along well. In order to let her ill mother rest, they're separated and sent each one with their relatives.

Plot Keywords:

Dog | 1950s | Small Town | Uncle | Soccer

Awards:

Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 13 wins & 2 nominations

Cast

Anton Glanzelius	...	Ingemar
Tomas von Brömssen	...	morbror Gunnar
Anki Lidén	...	Ingemars mamma (as Anki Liden)
Melinda Kinnaman	...	Saga
Kicki Rundgren	...	moster Ulla
Lennart Hjulström	...	konstnären
Ing-Marie Carlsson	...	Berit
Leif Ericson	...	farbror Sandberg (as Leif Ericsson)
Christina Carlwind	...	Fru sandberg
Ralph Carlsson	...	Harry
Viveca Dahlén	...	tvättande kvinna
Arnold Alfredsson	...	Mannes farfar (as Arnold Alfredson)
Fritz Elofsson	...	Mäster
Didrik Gustavsson	...	Arvidsson, dying old man befriended by Ingmar
Jan-Philip Hollström	...	Manne, the boy with green hair

Also Known As:

My Life as a Dog (Canada: English title) (USA)
El año del arco iris (Chile) (video title) [es]
Elämäni koirana (Finland) [fi]
La mia vita a quattro zampe (Italy) [it]
Ma vie de chien (France) [fr]
Mein Leben als Hund (West Germany) [de]
Mi vida como un perro (Spain) [es]
Mijn leven als hond (Netherlands) [nl]
Minha Vida de Cachorro (Brazil) [pt]
Moje pieskie zycie (Poland) [pl]
San adespoto skyli (Greece) [el]

Runtime:

101 min

Country:

Sweden

Language:

Swedish

Color:

Color (Fujicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:L | South Korea:15 | Argentina:13 | Australia:PG | Chile:14 | Finland:K-8 | Singapore:NC-16 | Sweden:7 | UK:PG | USA:Open (rating surrendered: 1987) | USA:PG-13 (original rating: 1986) | West Germany:6 | Canada:PG

Filming Locations:

Boda glassworks, Kalmar län, Sweden

Company:

FilmTeknik

Goofs:

Anachronisms: Modern cars are visible during the car journey from the hospital.

Movie Connections:

Features "Double or Nothing" (1952)

Soundtrack:

Far, jag kan inte få upp min kokosnöt

Straight to the heart

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.