User reviews

This film, recently voted as an audience favorite at the 2005 Palm Springs International Film Festival, is inspiring and moving. A famous conductor, forced to retire by illness, returns to the small village of his birth to become the leader of the church choir, and finally find fulfillment in his music. Drawing on Sweedish traits of keeping things within oneself and of the insular character of a small Swedish village, this film develops each of its characters well. superbly directed, acted and sung, it brought tears to many eyes, and smiles to all. Hopefully it will find distribution in the United States.

If you can, see it!

Kay Pollak's 2004 heart-warmer Så som i himmelen/ As it is in Heaven contains every stereotype of Swedish humanity and inhumanity yet manages to be a crowd-pleaser. It contains plenty of ammunition for cynical critics, continuity error-spotters and for saccharine-debunkers, yet manages to depict the colours of life in a small community evocatively. The film also runs the gamut of proverbial messages about 'finding one's own voice' and 'just doing it despite one's fear', without completely removing the lump from the throats of the cynics.

Its success as a crowd pleaser comes from two facts. Firstly, small films about strangers bringing new life to rural Christian communities provide plenty of scope for the exposure of hypocrisy while at the same time allowing repressed characters to break out of their hairshirts. The same year and with a similarly Swedish breeze, The Queen of Sheba's Pearls did it, and Babette's Feast also comes to mind. Secondly, any film about small communities taking on the whole wide world will strike a human chord in our increasingly individual/self- focused and impersonalized world. This film's structural similarity with the likes of The Full Monty, Brassed Off, Calendar Girls and On a Clear Day shows its indebtedness to the formula. But it is a formula with life left in it yet, and this seems to be because people need positive- message films that evoke a sense of community almost in spite of themselves.

The stranger is burned-out maestro Daniel Daréus on a quest for self-rediscovery. The town he visits, or rather revisits, is, unbeknownst to the townsfolk, the place of his childhood. He was bullied mercilessly by classmates here, supposedly because he was a sensitive musician without aspiration to drive a truck. Here, he takes the job of cantor/choirmaster, despite the usual suspicions of artists and outsiders. The place is, of course, populated by a wide range of recognizable types whose character arcs can be predicted: the broken-hearted, fair-haired girl so beautiful she nearly glows; the cellphone-ringing local businessman; the woman whose beauty is lost amidst domestic abuse; the steely pastor and his less austere wife, who at first seem right out of Ingmar Bergman. Also present: jealous, uptight spinster (Siv) (check); geriatric whose soul still sings (check); elderly couple who may have repressed desires for each other since kindergarten (check); obese person whose function is to point out we should not laugh and say 'fatty' (check); intellectually handicapped boy who proves able to sing a good 'A' (check).

Pollak's film is not all warm fuzzies, however. It diverts from the 'let's put on a show despite setbacks and moral opposition' sub-genre. It contains violence and an ending that might well be a metaphor for dying after achieving creative nirvana. The violence of the film is mostly a function of male anger and repression, but in never delves deeply into why the school bully who grows up into a wife beater is like this. Similarly, the small town Pastor so closely adheres to the moralistic, black-wearing super-Protestant stereotype, that his secret indulgence in girlie magazines is hardly surprising. His repressions and hypocrisies are just there, dangling unrelated to psychological reality. Perhaps the unexplained photograph of a young boy, a lost son perhaps, glimpsed once over his shoulder, holds the secret.

Perhaps these holes are functions of the editing, like several inconsistencies and continuity glitches that can be spotted, such as Siv's unexplained reappearance in the choir (twice) after moralistic outbursts. In fact none of the hitches in the film last very long and all seem resolved within a scene. Apart from in some awkward love scenes, the film's 127 minutes seldom drag, but there is a feeling that things may have been left on the cutting room floor.

The film remains solid three-star-fare despite the holes that can be picked in it. This is simply because in a world of technology-focused flicks and materialistic self-seeking, any glimpse of human community is, deep down, welcome for anyone, even the cynical.

I really loved this movie and so did the audience that I saw it with in Los Angeles. After the film, lots of people were crying and saying how much the film had affected them. I can see why it was such a huge hit in its homeland, Sweden. The film is masterfully directed and each character brilliantly drawn so that by the end you really know these people and care about them. The music is very natural and the main song in the film quite heartbreaking but inspiring. Would definitely recommend this film for everyone to see - even people who don't normally go to subtitled films. Definitely deserved the Oscar Nomination because of the profound themes of the film reflected without pretension in a small-town community with everyday people. It is a film that unites us in this divided world and shows us the potential of the human spirit. A MUST SEE!

I am not going to spoil the contents to anyone, who has not yet watched this humble masterpiece by Kay Pollak.

A world famous conductor brilliantly played by Michael Nyqvist seeks peace from stress by moving back to his childhood village. The villagers, who has followed the genius in silence, are slowly tempting him to share of his greatness.

Each role in this movie, has a very specific purpose and shows a remarkable potential in each of the actors playing their own chord in short but precise words, a symphony of love.

Not love in the sense of relationship, but in the tone of the spirit deeply buried within each of the characters, each revealing their own present story, their needs, their skeletons, desires and much more.

I shall not forget to mention, the two main parts played by Frida Hallgren and Michael Nyqvist, whose dramas are played in unforgettable harmonies of emotional feedback. They touch each other with a pain connected in their own disability to love themselves.

Michael Nyqvist is really put to the test here in a very difficult setup, in one of those movies that either end up as catastrophic or fantastic. And fantastic it became from start to end, not one second less or more than enough, you are left with a feeling of change and a taste for more.

To this day, definitely one of the best movies I have had the pleasure of watching.

Wow I loved this movie! It is about normal life in a small village. About hypocrisy and honesty, love and surrender. Great! It is about things everybody encounters in life. You have to do things with passion. But some people will not appreciate your passion and will try to stop you. There are people who find the opinion of others and 'what will the neighbors think' more important than to follow their heart. Don't let anybody's opinion stop you from fulfilling your dreams and passion. I loved the fact that the actors were all really normal people, it could have been my family. No big beauties, but all people you fall in love with during the movie.

I walked out of from this wonderful movie and felt really happy over the fact that a Swedish movie could be so fantastic!

Kay Pollack has found the Swedish spirit and the double standards of the Swedish Church's morality. You should not be happy- you shall only carry the shame of the sin. Just sit in the church and feel how the shame destroy you..

If you as I have grown up in a small village as Daniel, you recognize all the characters. The evil, the joy, the envy and the social network, the dreams...

The main actors were all very excellent in their performances. Maybe they got a bit theatrical in their monologues, but they are to be forgiven for that because they are some of Swedens best theatre actors. But I must say that I think the hole cast did a splendid job!

Back to the roots with "like it is in heaven" - what are the real values of life? These Swedes carve out a message that appeals to every heart. We've seen it twice now in a cinema packed to the last seat: love pure and joy within the music of a choir that's simple, yet full of power once everyone finds his or her inner tone.

From the glitter of fame to the school of of his youth, now empty and ready to be adapted as his new home after collapsing on stage, Daniel wants to start listening and is drawn into the lives of the simple, warm and rough people of the North.

He wins the hearts with music and gains the capacity to love and be loved unconditionally.

Don't go see it if you've been normed to Hollywood. This stuff contains no extras, just your laughter, your compassion, your tears!

First I was caught totally off guard by the film's initial lyricism and then I became totally enchanted with the unfolding story and engrossed with the brilliant directing. The characters were all fully developed, not bigger-than-life but just like the people we live among anywhere we are in the world, in Sweden, in Turkey or in America, all completely believable human beings with foibles and nobility. Hollywood could learn so much from this beautiful film. It shows that there is no need to go into every little detail behind every action to bring out the whole theme clear and bright, and that shows the brilliance of the director! Hearfelt thanks to Kay Pollak and the wonderful cast for this superb treat!!

AS IT IS IN HEAVEN has been launched in Sydney Australia and has hit a major chord with Australian audiences.... and we don't speak or sing Swedish at all... nor could we be further away from icy Sweden. Apparently it has been playing for 6 months in some New Zealand cinemas... a success likely to be repeated in Australia too......It is currently in its 67th week (Feb 2008) week in Sydney alone, and with no signs of stopping. As a music drama HEAVEN has everything .... and in some places is fearless to tackle seriously adult topics one might not expect in a film about a village church choir. Glorious music, very funny interaction between village choir members and some startling drama allow this film to offer a genuine smörgåsbord of cinematic scenes that, in total, actually work very well. If all this is not enough, the third act sees the choir off to Austria, Sound Of Music, style to compete in a major contest... but at least instead of Eidelweiss we get the breathtaking 'Frida's Song' which will melt any icy heart. Almost too much in places, it becomes a very rewarding film to relish. MR HOLLANDS OPUS might be a near US counterpart.

The line, of course, is from the Lord's Prayer - "Thy Will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven". Sweden, especially its far north, is not my idea of heaven -30 degree C winter temperatures are a little on the low side for me, but the good folk who live there no doubt think they are in God's own country.

The storyline here is a familiar one. Acclaimed international musician Daniel suffers health breakdown in mid-career, goes back to the little village in northern Sweden where he was born. Persuaded by the local pastor to help out with the church choir, he turns some unlikely talent into a class act, and they enter a contest held in Innsbruck Austria. There are echoes (sorry) of the band players of "Brassed Off" the models of "Calendar Girls" and the dancers of "the Full Monty". But of course he causes plenty of emotional upheaval as some of the more downtrodden villagers realise their worth and revolt against their oppressors. He faces hostile husbands and an increasingly dubious pastor, but nothing except death is going to stop him.

Despite the somewhat corny story, we get to know and like many of the characters, who come across as people rather than caricatures despite many of them being recognisable "types'. I did wonder about the wife-beater being unpunished for so long – Sweden is one country in the world where such violence is pretty strongly discouraged (he was also a bit young to be one of the bullies of Daniel's youth) and the puritanical pastor with a secret passion for girlie magazines was a bit of a stereotype, but marvellously realised by Niklas Falk.

Michael Nyqvist is simply wonderful as Daniel, the frail but driven musician, and there's some nice music as well. I was rapt for the whole two hours. The ending is what you make of it, I guess, but it's not spoiling it to say Daniel achieves what he set out to do.

If the screenwriter and director intended to open hearts with the movie as the musician wanted to do with his music, they succeeded with me. Commonplace human situations became original, personal and immediate so that I personally felt touched by each situation. I believe I would credit the power of music combined with the point of view of the person writing the movie. Without spoiling, I can say that I was very moved by the movie's approach to living. Haven't actually cried out of-what- joy? empathy? just deep emotion? in a very long time. I would love to find a way to show it to others. Saw it at Seattle International Film Festival.

A very strong, sentimental, epic, Swedish film I really recommend everyone to see, as long as - and this is vital - you reflect upon what it is you're being fed. A massive amount of prefab truths are pushed at you and they are more or less finely hidden in golden wrapping, ie the music, tear jerking dialogs and circumstances, not to mention in themselves powerful medias such as disability, mobbing, abuse of women and godless religious abuse.

I'm a rather sensitive person and is easily affected by the tricks even though I realize them as blunt. One shouldn't declare others' true emotions invalid, and there are films with much worse content morally out there. The big problem lies not within the acting, directing or general aesthetics, but within the main murmur within the audience during the screening: "this is what I've always thought" and such.

Pay attention, please. Beware that nowhere in this mess is there a human being, only characters. The abuser, the hero, the mobster, the victim, the silenced, the depraved, the Samaritan and so on. My experience of reality looks very different. Is this "what you've always thought" about people? That they're dividable in categories?

And the ending is somewhat beautiful but never in human history has something like it occurred and nowhere will it, unless a strong force of mass psychology is added. "I couldn't have said it better myself". Yes you could.

Dangerous stuff, indeed.

In 2005, "As It Is In Heaven" was nominated for the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film...and ironically, so was the French film "The Chorus". I say there's irony because their plots are extremely similar. Both involve a man trying to lead a chorus to greatness and both, ultimately, had to deal with fun-hating authoritarians who wanted to disrupt their work. But, of the two, "The Chorus" is a much better picture because it was written better and the ending made more sense and doesn't leave you angry.

Daniel Daréus (Michael Nyqvist) is a world famous director but he also has two problems--he tends to get very angry and he has a bad heart. After suffering a heart attack while working, he's told he must quit or he'll die. So he moved back to a small, rural town in Sweden...one which he grew up in but hated as a child. He and his mother hated it so much, they left it when he was 7. Why he would choose to return here of all places to retire really didn't make a lot of sense.

Despite not being an especially friendly or happy man, he somehow is wrangled into attending a session with the local church choir as one of the members would like his opinion about their progress. Soon, however, he finds that they want him to direct this chorus and slowly his grouchy veneer vanishes and he finds a sense of purpose here. He also finds that he has grown to like the folks.

Unfortunately, there is a VERY stereotypical minister who hates fun and is too much of a caricature to be taken seriously. Plus, having a self-righteous, one-dimensional minister attacking something if it was, perhaps rock music or drugs might make some sense...but a choir?!

There also is a serious problem with the ending of the film. Some may like it...most will feel robbed. After all, you invest all this time and energy into a film and then...this?!

So what you have are some good singing, some interesting characters and a kernel of a good story...but you have all that and so much more in "The Chorus". I say what the French film.

By the way, no one seemed to care but about a decade later, the director made a sequel to this film, "Heaven on Earth". The rating on IMDb is very low and apparently it turned out to be a sequel no one particularly wanted.

A beautiful film, touching profoundly up the simple, yet divine aspects of humanity.

This movie was almost perfect, and seeing as nothing in this world can be truly perfect, that is pretty good. The only minor thing I subjectively object to, is the pacing at some points in the middle of the story. The acting is also very good, and all the actors easily top actors in high-profile films. The actual directing seems to have been well thought through, and the script must have been amazing. There are some truly breathtaking moments of foreshadowing, and a quite gorgeous continuing circular composition of the story.

The moment in the movie, when the main character achieves that feeling of being in heaven is the perfect ending to a truly brilliant yarn.

if this movie is really as crappy as most of the other guys rated it, how come close to 700 people gave it an 7.3 out of 10? i actually saw it last week and thoroughly enjoyed it as something nicely different from mainstream cinema. OK, so it was slow and OK, so the people seemed a bit naive, but, hey, we're talking about inhabitants of a really small rural community. talk to people living in rural oklahoma, i think they'd be different from your average new yorker as well. movie fans enjoying slow stories will like this one, especially those who know michael nykvist from his former roles in "Tillsammans" and "Grabben i graven bredvid". i did.

The famous international conductor Daniel Daréus (Michael Nyqvist) has a heart attack with his stressed busy professional life and interrupts his successful career with an early retirement. He decides to return to his hometown in the north of Sweden, from where his mother left when he was a seven year-old sensitive boy bullied by Conny and other school mates, to live a low-paced life. He buys an old school and is invited to participate in the church choir by the local Shepherd Stig (Niklas Falk), but the reluctant and shy Daniel refuses in the principle. However, he gets involved with the community and feels attracted by Lena (Frida Hallgren), a local woman with a past with the local doctor. His music opens the hearts of the members of the choir, affecting their daily life: the slow Tore (André Sjöberg) has the chance to participate in the choir; Inger (Ingela Olsson), the wife of Stig, releases her repressed sexuality; Gabriella (Helen Sjöholm) takes an attitude against her abusive and violent husband; the gossiper and frustrated Siv (Ilva Lööf) opens her heart against Lena; the fat Holmfrid (Mikael Rahm) cries enough against the jokes of the businessman Arne (Lennart Jähkel); even Daniel starts loving people and Lena as the love of his life. When they are invited to participate in an important contest in Vienna, Daniel finds his music opening the heart of people making his dream come true.

"Så Som I Himmelen" is a touching and sensitive movie, with a very beautiful story. It is impressive how director Kay Pollak and the screenplay writers have been able to develop a great number of characters in 132 minutes running time. The performances are top-notch, supported by magnificent music score and at least two awesome moments: when Gabrielle sings her song in the concert, and certainly the last concert in Vienna with the audience, jury and everybody participating in the melody, and Daniel making his dream come true. Like in "Teorema", the stranger changes the lives, not of only a family, but of a conservative community. Further, like many European movies, the open conclusion indicates that Daniel actually died, at least in my interpretation, reaching peace with the success of his music. My eyes became wet in these two scenes. My vote is nine.

Title (Brazil): "A Vida no Paraíso" ("The Life In the Paradise")

The film begins with a boy practicing violin in a field until he is interrupted violently by a group of bullies. The boy leaves the town, grows up to become a famous conductor but comes back when his failing health forces him to take a break. Then he accepts a position directing the choir, a job that pits him against one of the bullies from his childhood (who has aged far more gracefully) and an insecure, puritanical pastor. The cartoonish pastor serves as a straw man for the film to mount a facile attack on church morality. This, in my view, was the weakest point of the movie. However, the interaction of the provincial singers with the conductor and among each other is often genuine and touching. To my mind, the ending, with things taken an unpredictable and gratuitous turn, smacks a bit of Hollywood feel good overstatement. But in a less critical mood, I think it could be very uplifting. It is worth noting that it is a variation on the experience Daniel describes early in the movie of conducting or, rather, not conducting his orchestra during a blackout.