Adieu Falkenberg

This is not a movie for a conventional Friday evening. There really isn't a plot, until something happens after 70 minutes. There's conversation, some philosophy and most of the feelings are told by people's eyes.

This is definitely a young men's world. Men on the borderline in some ways. The only women are a couple of mothers, who can be laughed at, but suddenly you find that there's nothing really ridiculous about them.

Anyway, everything is somewhat pretentious. This movie is a little to eager in showing that it doesn't care about what you think. The possible interpretations are also a little too many, but surely there's much talent here. To be shown in the next movie.

Small towns in Sweden are safe and clean, not necessarily rural, but perhaps not as stimulating as the Big City. Here we follow some kids in a small town, Falkenberg and their angst about adulthood and the world. What I like about "Farväl..." is its directness. It isn't trying to be smart or deliver puns, but just shows what life was like in Falkenberg, for the people that have made the film. They are also playing more or less themselves, I understand.

The kids portrayed are without any real sense of purpose in their lives, but at the same time quite comfortable, and with deep friendships. Adults are depicted pretty much as half-dead bores, and in juvenile narcissistic manner, adulthood indeed seems akin to dying.

I think that the "twist" that provides the only real drama of the film is a bit adolescent, but perhaps its just a traditional "hero mythology", with the hero sacrificing himself so that others may live. An effort could have been made to drive home a few more points though, now you kind of wonder if the film-makers have bothered to take a step back to seriously consider what they want to say. Politics are kind of absent, except in a very small comment on the separation of girls and boys into different groups.

Swedish small town blues have been the subject of films before, in e.g. "Fucking Åmål" and "Masjävlar", but never in quite this naked way, I think. "Gitarrmongot" I guess comes closest in terms of the tone of the movie. Not exactly entertaining in the traditional sense, but gripping, and I am glad that the film was made.

This memorable, visually unique, and sometimes very emotional story of a group of young friends whose lives implode after their schooling ends ranked among the top 3 films of the 15 or so I saw at the Toronto Film Festival. Unfortunately, the combination of $20 ticket prices and a 1 (out of 5) rating given this film by the major Toronto free weekly paper resulted in relatively few audience members taking a chance on the work of a first-time director. Moreover, I will say that this is not a film for everyone, and that there were a fair number of walk-outs at the screening I saw.

All that said, I think those who appreciate films that approach storytelling from a truly cinematic perspective -- that is, where the shots, the editing, the sound design, and the music tell the story as much as the action and dialogue do -- will find a lot to love here. As others have noted, this film did share some aesthetic elements with the last few (excellent) features by Gus van Sant (Elephant, Gerry, and Last Days), but it mixes this feeling with some of the contagious warmth, humor, and genuine emotional impact of Lucas Moodysson's Together (2000).

I think that whoever gave this film that (fatal) 1-star rating in Toronto must have popped in a screener tape, seen a lot of out-of-work young people goofing around and cracking some coarse jokes, and then tuned out at about the ten minute mark, writing this one off as yet another debut filmmaker mining the "slacker" genre for low-grade yux -- admittedly an unappealing prospect. But there's so much more at work here, and those who stay engaged in the film will be rewarded with unconventional but emotionally honest (and first-rate!) storytelling.

Internationally known as "Falkenberg Farewell" this film deals with a number of friends that get together for a last time during the summer that bridges their lives between playful old children and young responsible adults. Still having nothing to do but hang about and do whatever they feel like they have one last breath of total freedom before the harness of the daily rut takes them and binds them.

Starting with a short description of the main characters the film rolls slowly but steadily. When it is clear what everyone does and where everyone is going to it starts telling its actual story and it must be said: that is done a little messy. It looks like it tries to go in all directions at once and ends up staying right in the middle because of it. While it is clear about the message it wants to give off, it is far less clear about the way it revolves around the characters.

I wasn't really impressed with this film. Partly because I saw it during a film festival where it was surrounded by much better films, partly because it was so messy that it was hard to get into.

6 out of 10 summers ending

I watched this without any expectations and was drawn in after some time. It has a very special vibe that I think might resonate more with people sharing the childhood-friendship-from-a-small-place-thing. The acting is effortless and makes the movie natural in the sense that you're tagging along a group and their conversations without really watching a film.

Don't expect a classic movies-movie if you know what I mean, this is more an artsy way of telling a story, and in contrast with another review I didn't find it artsy in a pretentious way at all. There's a lot of heart going in to this film and it touches upon the unspoken things under the surface, the frustrations of coming back where nothing moves forward and the comfort from the same phenomenon. A special film that left me feeling a little unease in a good way, looking back on life and reflecting on relationships in general.