Le quartier du corbeau

In Ingmar Bergman's Gycklarnas afton (Sawdust and Tinsel) there's a great scene where travelling circus owner Albert and troupe arrive at the town where Albert's estranged wife and mother of his children Agda lives, after an absence of many years, and asks to be taken back. Agda meanwhile has learnt the value of peace and quiet, there's a wonderful pause where the conversation stops and she absorbs the chiming of the carriage clock on the mantelpiece in pure stillness. In Bo Widerberg's movie Raven's End you have a similarly telling moment where The Mother (her name is never revealed) mentions aloud her daydream of being able to go out to the forest on her own on a sunny day and daysleep. What the movie does really well is to capture the members of a family, and in general, members of a working class community with great simplicity.

The only child of the family Anders has become a young man, and undergoes many of the metanoiac thoughts young men do, becoming aware of truths about their mum and dad's relationship, reflecting back on poignant moments of their own ungratefulness, of the gap between their own opinion of their potential and concrete achievement, suddenly becoming aware, often too late, of their own set of vanities, intellectual and otherwise. The Father is a frighteningly despondent and fatalistic charlatan, who foreshadows the coming cynicism of National Socialism and consumerism.

However it is all too easy to focus on the miseries of a film. In truth there is a degree of charm to the area "Raven's End", with it's community spirit, quietness, and aspidistra-filled domesticity, where the football players are still members of the local community. There's also small bursts of joy, such as a visit to see the new-fangled escalator in the local department store.

The ultimate message I suppose is to respond to your summer, to respond to the voice of hope in your mind, whatever the cost.

I've seen a lot of films. And I dare to say that this is a masterpiece. A wonderful script, fantastic acting and beautiful photo. It's about working class people in Sweden in the late 40's. It may sound boring but it's a fascinating story told with heart, passion and wit. Each line is poetry. This is a deeply touching film that makes your heart smile with a tiny drop of sadness. So if you're looking for great cinematic experiences, you simply must see Kvarteret Korpen. The sooner, the better!

The naturalistic cinematography captures superbly the poor neighborhoods of Malmö and conveys the working class without any embellishment. Sunk in alcoholism, shattered hopes, cretinism, superstition and prostitution, a existentialism in drama without a excessive depressed mood.

"Raven's End " has a very good output and a nice execution, although it is a little event-thin, but the story is nothing but powerful and touching. Bo Widerberg has the ability to create fascinating, strong and convincing dialogues and relationships between the characters.

There are some scenes in the movie that shows the greatness in Swedish film, both in speech and performance. The acting is very glamorous spectacle, mainly from Emy Storm, Keve Hjelm and a terribly young and experienced Thommy Berggren. It is an excellent construction of the black-and-white 1930s, and probably my favourite Swedish film of all time.

Set in 1936 and filmed in a bleak tower block in Malmö demolished shortly afterwards, from which the occupants dream hopelessly of escape while being nearly three months behind with the rent.

Anders (Tommy Berggren) dreams of success as a writer, while his father (Keve Hjelm) simply dreams as he drinks himself into a stupor upon his return from a downward succession of humiliating menial jobs; and mother (Emy Storm) toils endlessly in a waking nightmare of drudgery in her exertions to hold the family together.

A splendid exploration of life's essence, beyond illusions, images or hope. Very profound and bitter, mixture of dust and ashes, anatomy of a little world for who the future is only a myth.

Definition of errors and lost of dreams.

Definition of angry days in a empty existence.

A heavy poem and subtle meditation about world, gestures and relation with past. About death in a special form, with strange words and ambiguous intentions.

Parents like poor symbols of a lost past.

The joy of literary success like grotesque lie, love like convention, father like caricature and mother like perfect victim.

In fact, a magnificent movie, with a persistent British flavor, piece of great cinema, reflection and pledge for deep self- discovery.