Fyra nyanser av brunt

A Swedish friend of mine sent me a DVD of this earlier this year; it has yet to arrive in Britain in any form and it seems to be impossible to order the DVD over the web. In the absence of circulating copies, I have simply been boring anyone who will listen about this amazing film.

'Four Shades of Brown' was funded by Swedish state TV, and written, performed and directed by the Killinggagets group who are well known in Sweden as a comedy troupe. The film is a collection of stories about contemporary Swedish life: the family of a dead horse trainer gather to mourn his passing, an elderly couple on tour with their magic act visit their uptight son in his coastal hotel and pick up an admirer en route, a man tries to connect with his teenage son by showing him the work he does at the pet crematorium, and a weekly 'cookery class' has turned into an encounter group where lost souls discuss their troubled lives. A couple of the strands interconnect: and some people have drawn comparisons with 'Magnolia', but frankly this film is far more original. It manages to be incredibly funny, yet in the end it addresses some very serious issues head-on. This is the most controversial aspect of the film, and on paper it might seem tasteless and impossible to bring off, but it works brilliantly and that on its own is an incredible achievement. This film is quite unique and easily the most astonishing drama to have emerged from a major TV network since the original BBC version of Dennis Potter's 'The Singing Detective' in 1986 (although in some ways it also reminds me of the dark, dark satire of British comedian Chris Morris). It's brave and wonderful and a shining example of what an enlightened state broadcasting system can achieve: Sveriges TV puts the 21st Century BBC to shame.

I visited Stockholm last month and bought several copies of the DVD for friends: but it would be so much easier if some enterprising company gave the DVD a UK release soon. I live in hope.

The movie is very long and hard to get at first. It takes a bit of time to understand how the four different stories relate to one another. The theme they are pushing on is fatherhood. All stories are somehow related to fathers. The story hands us an insight in the swedish culture and how it affects the different characters in their unique stories that the movie tells us about. How you "should" react in different situations and how people around you react when difficult problems hit you.

I for one enjoyed the movie and i often recognised the characters from my normal day life. It reflected the swedishness in a way that i never have seen before. This I think, is a movie for those who more or less understand the typical Swedish culture. If you like it you should also look into "Ben & Gunnar - En Liten Film Om Manlig Vänskap" which is another "Killinggänget" production.

This is not about the condition of Sweden and the Swedes, it is more about the condition of everybody everywhere. Still this film is very Swedish and you have to live here to understand, to laugh at the right places and to feel sad, when you're supposed to.

But it's very well narrated and director Tomas Alfredsson knows exactly where to push the script, which he probably has had cut down in a perfect way. Still the film, with four different episodes rolling together, is more than three hours long. But it doesn't feel long. The acting is not really realistic (it ain't meant to be). But especially Maria Kulle and Ulf Brunnberg are making the performances of their lives.

There is hope for Swedish film, obviously. This is a new way of making comedy. If this is a comedy.

The English title should be added to IMDb: how can that be done? I saw Four Shades of Brown (with English subtitles) in Copenhagen

A wonderful mix of brownish-black humour and, amid the playfulness, a good dose of wistful melancholy - this film captures a particular (and compelling) view of Swedish life today, better than any other film in recent years. The subtle ironies and rather self-conscious social commentary will probably be lost on those who have not lived in Sweden or had a fair bit of contact here.

It's hard to know how enjoyable these four stories would be to someone who knows little about Sweden and contemporary Swedish-ness. In might help, for example, to enjoy the comic artistry of Robert Gustafsson, without having in mind his many appearances on Swedish TV. But in some ways, this background is the main point. One of the film's triumphs is Gustafsson's love-hate light-dark creation of the everyday absurdities of `normal' family life here. If you don't recognise the humour in the use of regional accents, for example, you'll be missing a lot of the fun.

Nevertheless, Four Shades has plenty to offer anyone willing to think outside their own set of cultural references. At least a couple of the storylines are, in themselves, quite captivating.

Don't be put off the title. If you're looking for pretty images of Sweden, the opening shots alone will satisfy. Personally I was pleased that at least it finally rained at the beachside hotel, one morning.

Presumably SVT (Swedish public service TV) will show this gem within a year or two. Surely!? It's a big shame that it doesn't seem to be getting much of a run in the Swedish cinemas.

[This is my first review for IMDb - jono_nath AT hotmail DOT-U-know-what :-]

This is a very hard film to understand. It is four stories in one movie. The Killinggänget have made something very interesting for the viewers. The main characters are the famous, in Sweden that is, Robert Gustafsson, Johan Rehborg and Henrik Schyffert. They all come and go as different characters in the four different stories.

First story: A hotel owner and his wife get visited by his parents. The parents, or the mother, bring a mystic man. The mystic man also brings a present to the owner and the wife. It is a wooden doll. Does the wooden doll have something to do with the pain and suffering?

Second story: One couple, one son. The son has problems in school and fails in three subjects. The father tries to stimulate his son by taking him to his work. The father works at a crematorium for animals. He shows the son the full procedure. Accidentally the son turns on the fire in the oven and burns his father bad.

Third story: An old man, died 43 minutes ago, tells a story from the dead. He has three sons that want his money. Who will get what and what will they get?

Fourth story: The cooking club. Four people and one `psychiatrist' meets and talks about their miserable lives.