Den bästa sommaren

I will have to disagree with the previous critiques here. I found this to be a very average movie, unfocused characters (though 3D most of the time) with odd twists in the plot and completely dumb ending, that doesn't make sense anywhere, let alone Sweden (and I refer to the summer-daddy picking up the kids from the hands of the police without anyone running after him).

The entire set of relationships in this movie has been seen before and is not really interesting. The "romantic" couple is an old-fashioned, ugly and clumsy couple that we suppose to feel something for, and I didn't. The kids are OK, but I think that the French "Le Grand chemin" (1987), that pretty much tackled the same story line, but with far better performances between the lead kids. And how exactly do kids get the stuff to tattoo themselves while being hospitalized?! I was shocked at the silliness of that scene.

Skip it, a very minor attempt.

This film is a classic example of bad directing and editing.

I actually think that the film could work if it wasn't for the bad editing, directing, writing and acting.

I totally concur with the person who wrote one of the other reviews.

My life as a dog (mitt liv som hund) is although similar, it's a classic Swedish film.

There are few good Swedish films, Fanny and Alexander is another one, but this sadly is a miss.

"Den bästa sommaren" is a very entertaining and charming Swedish film set in rural Sweden in the 1950s. Once again Ulf Malmros has written a great script (he also wrote the script for e.g. the Swedish "cult" tv-series "Rapport till himlen"). And once again Malmros works with Kjell Bergqvist who is simply brilliant in this film. The character suits him perfectly. So, basically, what's best about this film is Bergqvist, but the movie in itself is also very entertaining and funny.

(r#60)

Of all the good movies I've seen, shamelessly few of them have been Swedish. "Den Enfaldige Mördaren", "Att Angöra en brygga", "Nattvardsgästerna" and the cult flick "Frostbiten" come to mind. Now I can add "Den Bästa Sommaren" to the short list of Swedish films which are actually worth seeing. Because as much as I hate to admit it, this is a very good film. It's supremely well acted, well written and effectively pulls a few heartstrings at several moments. It's a brilliant movie. This coming from a self-confirmed hater of Swedish movies. I'm always skeptic about Swedish films because they always seem to have been written by a roomful of monkeys in five minutes, directed by some talentless hack-job the producers found outside Systembolaget, with neither charm nor production values. Strangely they all seem to be about angst, drinking, angsty lesbian teenagers, rape and angst. Did I mention angst? It's like a poor man's Bergman, only without the laughs.

The brilliance of Den Bästa Sommaren is that none of my prejudices are confirmed in it. It is a simple but never boring story about two orphan kids who are sloppily thrown between equally uncaring foster parents. They're lonely and feel like no one loves them. When they are sent to stay at the undertaker Yngve Johansson's place for the summer holidays, they discover friendship as well as love and better a few people's lives in the process.

This actually starts out as a hilarious comedy, despite the rather dark plot. This is where Kjell Bergqvist fits into the picture, as the depressed, socially challenged undertaker Johansson. I don't know why I've never seen this man in any other movies, because he is positively brilliant. He's fantastic. He embodies his nervous, twitchy and laughably pathetic character. Kjell plays Yngve Johansson to perfection and brings both laughs and tears as his well-written, 3-dimensional character develops throughout the film. Johansson is a character which we sometimes feel sympathy for, and sometimes hate utterly, which makes him as real as, well, a real person (this is rare in film, especially Swedish films, nowadays).

As for the kids, they deliver as well. Anastasios Soulis convinces as the confused, scared boy Mårten who befriends the more self-confident, but also more cynical, girl Annika, brilliantly played by Rebecca Scheja.

It is Johansson's spot-on cynicisms and questionable words of wisdom that carry the film and bring most of the humour. The cynical character saves the film from being a sappy, forgettable piece of fluff and makes it something much more human and easy to relate to. Yngve is a man we can understand and eventually grow to love despite his negative and lifeless surface. As racist, cynical, dull and pretentious as Johansson is, I still couldn't help but love him. Great acting which definitely deserved recognition.

I've rambled enough. This is a great movie, not just a "good to be Swedish" type of flick, but a genuinely enjoyable, very well acted, and uplifting movie, carried on the shoulders of Kjell Bergqvist. You should see it. It's accessible to almost anyone and a success on all levels. Definitely one of the few genuinely great Swedish movies released. Ulf Malmros, if you can keep making movies as cute as this instead of trash like Tjenare Kungen, you might have staying power. Great work!

When I sat down to watch this movie I was rather depressed. "Den bästa sommaren" changed that.

Wonderful film about two orphans spending their summer holidays together in late 50s Swedish countryside. Their "father" for the summer is a seemingly square and restrained coroner, struggling for self-respect and gaining respect from others. With the 1958 soccer World Cup (which was held in Sweden) as a background, the three of them, and the kids' teacher, find their lives changing - for the better.

Great acting, wonderful photo, good timing and a story that will make your day brighter too. 10/10.