Roy Andersson-En Kärlekshistoria ('A Swedish Love Story') (1970)

En Kärlekshistoria (A Swedish Love Story) depicts the love between the two teenagers Annika and Pär. The film describes all the uncertainty, fear, tenderness and joy that they experience together. In the background is their parent's reality, the lost generation of the Swedish welfare state. Their lonely dreams about the future is lost in the everyday routine with the auto repair shop and refridgerator agency. NordicDVD




When Pär (Rolf Sohlman) meets Annika (Ann-Sofie Kylin) something magical happens! At first the two teens do not quite know what it is - they have never been in love before, they do not know how to react. But as time goes by it becomes apparent that Pär and Annika were meant for each other. Slowly but surely their parents also begin to see what everyone else already knows. DVDTalk




One of the greatest films of its decade director Roy Anderson's En Kärlekshistoria a.k.a A Swedish Love Story (1970) is a surprisingly mature effort at describing teenage love to those who have never experienced it. Honest, sweet, and beautifully shot this is also a film that captures marvelously the spirit of a country on the verge of a massive economic crisis.




The greatest strength of this picture, a key element that will reappear in Anderson's later works, is the meticulous character exploration made possible by long and devoid of unnecessary glamour takes. The director's camera is frequently focused at accentuating different aspects from the main protagonists' personas that would have likely escaped the viewer's attention. A simple twitch, sigh, or glance is typically treated with utmost respect. Logically, such enormous emphasis on detail provide Anderson's work with a near documentary feel, a sense of intimacy many directors are incapable of achieving.




In A Swedish Love Story the attention to detail is enormous! From the moment it becomes obvious that Pär and Annika will have to endure the suspicious looks of those around them Anderson's camera begins to treat them differently. After a short introduction the audience sees that even though they are teens who think and act according to their age their emotions (joy, anger, fear, etc) reveal a different side. Pär and Annika become adults!




Anderson's film is incredibly honest its depiction of teenage love is. There isn't any sugary sentimentality here, there aren't any hidden moral lessons to be learned, and most certainly there isn't any of the rancid teenage kitsch contemporary filmmakers are fascinated with. This is as pure of a film about love as one will ever see!




Furthermore, A Swedish Love Story is also an incredibly…Swedish film! With the risk of sounding cliché One could hardly recall another film that manages to juxtapose so many themes representative of the Swedish state from the early 70s (competitiveness countered with liberalism, class awareness, etc) within its narrative. Not surprisingly Anderson, an outspoken social critic, spends a great deal of time caricaturing many of the values cherished by his countrymen.




Finally, A Swedish Love Story is a film about those who believe that cinema is about capturing what words can not describe! Certainly as far as human emotions are concerned! It is also a film that has that special ability to bring back to life memories most of us might have forgotten!!