Tre solar

"Tre Solar" could have been the top Swedish movie of the year, instead it is rather the low-point for the last five years. It's surprising why - we have the current Swedish actor elites, nice filming and authentic outfits and environments. Yet, tre solar doesn't pull much off - due to the really lame script. For minutes barely ANYTHING happens. Woman walks in, sees man, talks to him, he answers in absent words, tragic discover. Next scene. Repeats again. I have absolutely no idea what went wrong during the production, but it seems very strange to me that actors with such experience as these, making all the top roles in recent movies, wouldn't see this coming. Perhaps "Tre Solar" is the perfect example of the majority of Swedish films - some wish-to-be-made movie is granted financial support not because it is something people want to see on the big screen, but rather because it seems like an interesting aim to some people (namely the academy granting money to support Swedish film-making). Much as it pains me, but Tre Solar cannot earn more than 2/10 by me.

As happens, one's own views on a particular movie will vary the majority received opinion. Most of the time, the reason for an under- or over-rating is comprehensible. In the present case, however, I am at a complete loss as to understand such an extraordinarily low vote. Is this the same movie that I saw? The date, the cast and plot description would indicate that it is. The only reason I can think of is that since the other reviewers currently listed are Swedish, perhaps the majority of ratings are from Swedes also. Is a native Swede, therefore, able to pick out some particular aspect of the film which I was oblivious too - a cultural or linguistic point perhaps? A brief look at the film will be required first. Three Suns is set in Sweden in the Middle Ages. Some of the men have left to join the crusades, and the black death is a recent arrival. The film focuses on one woman who is waiting for news about her husband, Ulf. Upon hearing about his imminent return, she leaves her two children in the care of her father in law and sets out for the coast to meet him there. Without giving away too much of the slender plot, she meets various people, good , bad, generous, selfish, infectious, healthy, along the way.

Generically speaking, then, this is a road movie, the journey of a woman done very much in a woman's terms - and I think this is where so many of the negative reviews stem from, not out of conscious sexism, but from the terms on which this journey is carried out, its tempo, its motivation and its denouement. Without wishing to push a particular stereotype, I think it is possible to comprehend much of the action in terms of a womanly response to certain situations, complete with certain foibles like impatience, vanity, impulsiveness and the occasional lapse of logic. The action makes more sense when seen in this light, with the only caveat being whether a woman would have been permitted to behave in such a manner at such a time in history, or be allowed to express so openly her opinions and attitudes. As for the other characters, I found them utterly believable, especially insofar as superstition and selfishness surge forth when disaster seems imminent.

As for the actors, I thought they did well. I haven't seen many recent Swedish films, so wasn't thinking about how a particular actor or actress usually looked (something which also seems to have irked some reviewers). Nor was I particularly distressed by the wigs, having had the 'Lord of the Rings' trilogy to get used to them. The clothing, buildings, carriages, and so on, all seemed authentic enough to my untrained eye. The scenery was lovely to look at, and in my mind was the high point of the film. As for the language, I was reading the subtitles, so the subtleties of older versus modern Swedish were not an issue for me - the language in the subtitles seemed appropriate enough, with no glaring lapses into modern idioms. The dialogue was fairly standard, with occasional humour. There is none of the pondering depth found in, say 'The Seventh Seal', set in a similar time and place, but there is enough to occupy the viewer in the simple human interactions. The music was standard, but pleasant, complimenting the action well.

For me, this was, at face value, an enjoyable film. It was hardly earth-shatteringly original, but was competently done, with the interesting setting and attractive photography making up for a relatively uncomplicated plot, and some unusualness regarding character actions and motivations, which I've examined in this review already. I'm glad I took a risk on this one, in spite of its incomprehensibly poor rating.

This was the first Swedish movie (except Josef Fares' movies and Vuxna Människor) that I saw from the beginning to the end. Not because it was exciting or incredibly interesting, but because our extremely boring Swedish teacher forced my class to see it.

After have seen Tre Solar I have also come to the conclusion that she also had extremely bad taste.

Why Tre Solar is awful: 1. The script was probably printed on an A3-paper, there are approximately 3 lines in this movie. 2. The props is horrible, maybe because of the low budget or a lack of inspiration. 3. The actors are showing a complete lack of knowledge about acting.

All of this results in Tre Solar being an excruciating horrible and sad, sad movie.

It is also sad to see that splendid actors such as Rolf Lassgård and Rikard Wolf chose to participate in this movie.

The criticism this film has received is totally unwarranted. One Swedish critic dubbed it the "turkey of the year", which is unnecessarily cruel and absurd. I have seen many other films that I would consider much worse. This leads me to wonder if the critique is against the movie itself or the people who created it.

Tre Solar has an interesting story line. It revolves around how people react to times of crisis and change. It is looks at religion, class, and gender roles. Set in the middle ages, the lead is a strong female character (Hannah). She rescues her husband and several others, on a journey to reunite her family. The story emphasizes through numerous examples that Hannah is unafraid and willing to do anything it takes, even sacrifice herself, for the ones she loves.

I think this was a very ambitious project. The setting (in the Middle Ages) and movement through the film make it a challenge, not to mention the topics it presents. The film is not as smooth as a big budget film. However it is an interesting story and the southern Swedish landscapes create a beautiful setting.

Anyone who only focuses on the wigs, obviously missed the point of this film.

Alot of the negative criticism this movie has gotten seems to concentrate on the wigs. Personally I don't think that's got anything to do with why the movie isn't good. The wigs didn't bother me at all actually. Overall I thought the whole production seemed quite serious and it looked good to me and didnt detract from the movie.

The thing that puts this movie down is the script and directing. It's absolutely terrible. And I'm not kidding here. It seems like something I wrote back in fourth grade. And the way they try to put humour into it. It's pretty hilarious, not due to the jokes, but due to it being so utterly ridiculous.

And it's not particularly true to that age either. I mean people didn't call the plague "the plague" back then. They called it the "big death". Also they had no idea that the rats were the ones spreading the disease either so there's no reason for the characters of the movie to fear the rats so much.

I dont really know what this movie wants. It seems like half of the time they're trying to have a history lesson and the other they're trying to be funny. And inbetween they're just riding on horses. There's no red line connecting it at all. I'll admit it gave me a few laughs but that was mostly due to the horses having so short legs making them look ridiculous when they galloped. But all in all this isn't a movie to see if your not a moviebuff like myself.

3/10