Swedes in America

There is something striking about the opening scene from Ingrid Bergman. She sits, comfortably, on a sofa and reads out a letter from someone asking her why she thought the Swedes and the Americans got on so well. She looks entirely natural and convincing, the camera loves her, and it is very easy to see why this particular Swede fitted in so effortlessly. The rest of this short feature follows more traditional lines as she narrates a potted history of just how a group of her countryfolk arrived, settled and were prominent in the establishment of it's unified nation. It visits the museum in Philadelphia that testifies to the importance of these immigrants to the birth of a nation, and it also shines a light on a gently religious, industrious and friendly population who integrate effortlessly with their fellow immigrants from other parts of Europe seeking opportunity or fleeing persecution. In no way could this be considered a deep or analytical film, but more a light and fluffy celebration of another part of the great American human jigsaw puzzle.

Irving Lerner's Oscar-nominated "Swedes in America" looks partially at US citizens of Swedish descent, but in the grand scheme of things it reminds us that the US is a mix of peoples. Ingrid Bergman - then the most famous Swede - hosts the documentary. Traveling throughout the Midwest, she notes that there are people of almost every ethnicity working together to contribute to the war effort. Sweden notably avoided Nazi occupation during World War II, but Stieg Larsson's Millennium Trilogy made clear that Sweden still dealt with the Nazis.

So, my interpretation of the documentary is the simple fact that the US is the most heterogeneous country in the world. Despite Ingrid Bergman's look at the Swedish-American community in Minnesota, the US is hardly a bastion of blue-eyed, blonde-haired people. It's not a great documentary, but OK in a pinch.