Movie review: “Everlasting Moments”
From Friday’s Weekend Look section of The Oklahoman. 3 1/2 of 4 stars
“Everlasting Moments” is almost picture perfect
“Everlasting Moments” proves nearly picture perfect as a compelling family drama that explores the power and solace of art.
The Swedish-language film is showing 5:30 to 8 p.m. today and Saturday at the Oklahoma City Museum of Art, 415 Couch Drive. For more information, call 236-3100 or go to www.okcmoa.com/film.
Based on true events in writer-director Jan Troell’s extended family, the period drama is set in Sweden at the turn of the 20th century, a time of social unrest, poverty and change. A Finnish immigrant living in the port town of Molma, Young housewife Maria Larsson (Maria Heiskanen) stays busy caring for her five children and wrangling her alcoholic husband Sigfrid (Mikael Persbrandt). When Sigrid is sober, he is charming, supportive and does hard labor to support the family. When he’s drunk, he transforms into an abusive, womanizing lout.
When dabbling with socialism gets Sigfrid tossed in jail – not for the last time – Maria despairs how she will feed their brood. In a cabinet she finds an old camera that once held special significance: She won it in a lottery the week after she met Sigfrid. Since he bought the ticket, he thought he should keep the camera; as a compromise, they agreed to marry and share it.
But it has never been used, so Maria takes it to a camera shop to pawn it for grocery money. But the shop owner, Sebastian Pedersen (Jesper Christensen), refuses to buy it until she at least uses it once. He shows her how it works, and Maria is immediately captivated by the camera’s ability to capture moments.
She shows a natural eye for photography and finds both a creative outlet from the hardships of life and a way to make money for her family. She also forms a close bond with Sebastian, a gentle photographer and violinist, and their attraction seems mutual.
When Sigfrid returns, he is caught between appreciating Maria’s newfound talent and resenting the confidence and self-reliance it engenders in her. And for all his dallying with floozies, he fiercely objects to her having any sort of friendship with another man. Through wartime, the arrival of two more children and illness, Maria records life with her camera, as Sigfrid tries, sometimes violently, to force her to give up her passion.
The film is effectively narrated by the couple’s oldest daughter, Maja (Callin Öhrvall). Graceful and intimate, the Golden Globe nominee for best foreign language film draws you in, even if it sometimes plods.
Excellent performances, canny cinematography and Troell’s steady direction make “Everlasting Moments” worth experiencing.
- BAM
If you enjoyed this post, please consider to leave a comment or subscribe to the feed and get future articles delivered to your feed reader.
Comments
No comments yet.
Leave a comment