One of my all time favourites...
My Life As A Dog review
By
ThomasKus from Gloucester
- 38
- 1
29th December 2003
Before Lasse Hallstr?m went to Hollywood to make films like 'Cider House Rules', 'Chocolat' and 'The Shipping News' he made a number of Swedish films of which this 1985 children's is perhaps the best.
Ingemar (Anton Glanzelius) is a 12 year old boy living in 1959 Stockholm. He has to cope with the slow death of his mother from tuberculosis and a separation from his home and his beloved for the summer holidays. He stays with is his eccentric uncle in a small town where life centers around the glass factory and slowly learns to make friends with local people, especially Saga (Melinda Kinnaman).
This a coming of age movie with serious themes, careful character development and a story that is both moving, funny and melancholic at the same time and the refreshingly European style makes it more sincere and believable than any Hollywood adaptation ever could be.
Well, it's 18 years old, made it onto DVD and is still one of my favourites - what more can I say?
