Tillsammans (2000)

User Rating:

7.4/10   

Director:

Lukas Moodysson

Writer:

Lukas Moodysson (writer)

Release Date:

25 August 2000 (Sweden)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama

Tagline:

one house; one revolutionary; two open straight marriages; three gay people (maybe four); three children; two carnivores and eight vegetarians; there's only one way they're going to make it... together

Plot:

Elisabeth tires of her husband Rolf, so she packs her bags, takes the kids and goes to her brother Göran...

Plot Keywords:

Commune | Puberty | Separation | Restaurant | Teasing

Awards:

14 wins & 14 nominations

Cast

Lisa Lindgren	...	Elisabeth
Michael Nyqvist	...	Rolf
Emma Samuelsson	...	Eva
Sam Kessel	...	Stefan
Gustaf Hammarsten	...	Göran
Anja Lundkvist	...	Lena (as Anja Lundqvist)
Jessica Liedberg	...	Anna
Ola Rapace	...	Lasse (as Ola Norell)
Axel Zuber	...	Tet
Shanti Roney	...	Klas
Olle Sarri	...	Erik
Cecilia Frode	...	Signe
Lars Frode	...	Sigvard
Emil Moodysson	...	Måne
Henrik Lundström	...	Fredrik

Also Known As:

Together (International: English title) (Italy)
Tillsammans (Denmark)
Вместе (Russia) [ru]
Bem-Vindos (Brazil) [pt]
Juntos (Spain) [es]
Kimpassa (Finland) [fi]
Mazi (Greece) (festival title) [el]
Tilsammans (Norway) [no]
Todos juntos (Argentina) [es]
Together (France) [fr]
Tous ensemble (France) (subtitle) [fr]
Tylko razem (Poland) [pl]
Zusammen! (Germany) (TV title) [de]

MPAA:

Rated R for nudity/sexuality and language.

Runtime:

106 min

Country:

Sweden | Denmark | Italy

Language:

Swedish

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Certification:

Australia:M | Iceland:12 | Argentina:16 | Denmark:11 | Finland:K-11 | France:U | Germany:12 | Hong Kong:III | Netherlands:AL | Norway:11 | Spain:13 | Sweden:11 | Switzerland:14 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:14 (canton of Vaud) | UK:15 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Trollhättan, Västra Götalands län, Sweden

Company:

Memfis Film

Trivia:

The character of Birger, played by Sten Ljunggren, previously appeared in Lukas Moodysson's short film Bara prata lite (1997) which focused on him.

Quotes:

Elisabeth: Wait a bit. Why's it like this? Eva, you have a pink cover and pillow. Stefan has a blue pillow and cover. Why do boys have blue and girls pink? Can't I change your pillows?
Stefan: I want mine.
Elisabeth: This is important. You have to think about this when you're an adult.

Movie Connections:

References Fontane - Effi Briest (1974)

Soundtrack:

Caddo Queen

The aesthetics of porridge

Göran is making porridge. For some reason this prompts him to deliver an improvised musing on the theme of Life Is Like a Bowl of Porridge, which goes roughly as follows: "We start as individual oat flakes, each with an individual shape; then we're heated and mixed and we start to blend together with all the other oat flakes; we're no longer oat flakes, but we're part of something larger - something warm, nutritious, and, yes, beautiful." Göran says this as though he's trying to convince himself. And no wonder. The porridge the camera reveals to us looks like repellent glomp.

And up until that point - well, up until a little before that point; the film's arc is like a long walk up a very gentle hill and it's hard to pick the precise moment at which we make it to the top - the collective seemed just as much a dollop of repellent glomp as the porridge. There were too many people too close together, the windows were never open, and for long stretches we never stepped outside, never even caught a glimpse of the outside. Every single room looked and felt as though it were buried in the very centre of the house. It was like living in a fetid warren, and it made me long for something cold and impersonal.

But even as we're gasping to escape we're being won over. In the end the film really IS warm, and it's the pleasing warmth of a fireplace rather than clammy warmth of porridge. The joyousness Moodysson concludes with grew so naturally out of what preceded it that the glow it casts is retrospective. I can't recall a single moment which I don't NOW (having seen the whole thing) recall with fondness.

The LOOK of the film is, in a quiet way, astonishing, except that it's so convincing you forget to be astonished. You'd swear it was shot in the 1970s. (When I saw the trailer I thought was watching an ad for the reissue of a movie that HAD been shot in the 1970s.) This is as great a triumph of art direction as any you're likely to see.