La beauté des choses

"All Things Fair" is a strange kind of film because it is always transforming itself. While it always remains a coming-of-age film it ranges in its focus, touching on many different expressions. Obviously this makes it hard to categorise, hard to follow, hard to analyse, and all this seems to add up to a good thing. It starts out so luridly that I thought I was in for a Swedish version of "Private Lessons" but somehow it manages to continually evolve into something quite else. The changes in pace and locus give the narrative a certain elliptical feel which consolidate the nostalgic representation. Pretty good performances all round and some unexpected twists in the tale make it well worthwhile.

How much I regret the passing of director Bo Widerberg who can create a film such as this one with its dramatic portrayal of human problems, human relationships and human emotions. It was not so much the dialogue but more the unspoken words that grabbed my attention and held me to the end. A long silence can be filled with meaning....a stolen look, a fleeting glance, a flicker of a smile, a movement of the eye....all these subtle messages electrify the air between Viola the teacher and Stig the student in the class room. We know at once that in some magical way their lives have been drawn together and as we are caught up in the drama we seem to know that eventually the ending will not be a happy one.

Under the guise of having special coaching lessons, Stig gains entrance into his married teacher's household after his evening cinema job. Shy at first he soon experiences the delights of a continuing relationship with Viola who is a very competent teacher in all respects. Perhaps we can pardon Viola for her "cradle snatching" when we find out that her husband has taken to drink and seems almost permanently drunk.

The love scenes are sensitively handled and the remarkable changes which develop in the characters create an imposing piece of cinema. Stig seems to take on a degree of security in a scene where he accuses the husband of the impossible situation. But who is really to blame? That is the intriguing part of the film.

There are some aspects that are not explained thus the viewer becomes involved. As for the stolen encyclopaedia, why would Stig carry them off. Is he just in a vindictive mood and does it just to annoy Viola or have those volumes become special to him because they belonged to Viola.

When reading the synopsis, Bo Widerberg's film evokes understandable skepticism, but as soon as the final credits appear on the screen, and you remember everything that you literally experienced in these 2-and-a-half hours with the hero, it becomes clear that this is not an ordinary drama about romance between a student and a teacher.

The Swedish city of Malmo, at the height of World War II. The pretty middle-aged teacher Viola gets a job at the school where the main character, 15-year-old Stig, studies. These two character decide to get closer with each other, mostly due to the teacher's advances.

Of course, such a relationship is doomed from the very beginning: it goes against morality, against society. However, the actors are providing a very believable and masterful performance.

The biggest advantages of the film are in the acting, Vinderberg Jr. Is very handsome and charismatic. The film's musical accompaniment and script are also okay. I was glad to spend my time watching this film, and I remain very pleased and impressed.

I caught this film on Canadian television, and I was startled by the risque content being broadcast on a non-pay station. This is a story of a growing adolescent boy in a war-torn Europe. The focus of the movie is in the complex relationships he holds with the people in his life. The controversial nature may deter the more conservative American; however, the characters are well-rounded and acted and the cinematography is superb. I have a feeling this director may be famous in his home country, there is a touch of epic brilliance in the movement of the scenes.

Rape is rape. The "love scenes" are rape. Imagine if the genders were reversed or both the teacher an the child were male, you would see it clearly as rape. Teachers have authority and power over children and just like in the US -- in Sweden it is legally rape for a teacher in a school to have sex with a minor child who attends that school. There is no age under 18 where a minor may consent with a teacher

Again if the genders were reversed in this and it were some 35 or 40 year old guy teacher and his 15-year-old girl student would we be saying, as some reviewers here are, that the "love scenes were "tender" and "beautiful." WTF?