Maria Larssons eviga ögonblick (Everlasting Moments) (Maria Larsson's Everlasting Moment) (2008)

Featured Audience Ratings

• Red L

  
  This is an interesting movie. Set in Sweden in the early 1900's. Back in the days when life was hard, marriages were until "death do us part" and there is no AA. Makes you glad to know that we things are a little easier now. Maria rises above the banality of that… More
  This is an interesting movie. Set in Sweden in the early 1900's. Back in the days when life was hard, marriages were until "death do us part" and there is no AA. Makes you glad to know that we things are a little easier now. Maria rises above the banality of that life - with the help of a camera she won in a lottery, and a soul-mate - the local photographer.

• Mark A

  
  A visually stunning Swedish film that tells the story of a woman, faithful to her brutally abusive husband, and who finds a creative outlet in taking photographs. The story is told with a voice over from the eldest daughter as a remembrance of her parents' marriage. Maria Larsson… More
  A visually stunning Swedish film that tells the story of a woman, faithful to her brutally abusive husband, and who finds a creative outlet in taking photographs. The story is told with a voice over from the eldest daughter as a remembrance of her parents' marriage. Maria Larsson (Maria Heiskanen) falls for the big, strong Sigfrid, or Sigge (Mikael Persbrandt), and marries him. After several children, she discovers a camera she had won as a girl. With the family down on its luck, she tries to pawn it, at a photographers shop, only to have the proprietor, Sebastien Pedersen (Jesper Christensen), talk her into trying her hand at photography. The interplay between the leads was carefully nuanced. We saw the mutual admiration that developed between the photographer, Sebastien, and his protege, and the jealousy of her husband. We saw the poverty that the family lived in, and yet also the joy that they shared over simple pleasures. We saw the frustration of a man who knew he was a poor provider. We saw his conflict over fulfilling his familial obligations and his moral weakness as evidenced by his taking a mistress. There were scenes of incredible beauty, lovingly framed and beautifully acted. There were scenes of unspeakable brutality exacerbated by Sigge's thirst for the demon rum (or Slivovitz, or whatever it was that he drank) and his guilt. But through it all, it was the strength and decency of Maria that kept this viewer enthralled. At something over two hours, this film requires an investment, but that proves well worth the effort. We cannot begin to understand what kept Maria going through the rough patches, but one's admiration for her never wavers. There is wonder here in the midst of the squalor, light shining on the darkest places, and hope, springing eternal.

• Walter M

  
  [font=Century Gothic]In "Everlasting Moments," Maria(Maria Heiskenan) and Sigge(Mikael Persbrandt) win a camera in a lottery. Maria claims ownership but Sigge wants to share, so he suggests they get married.[/font] [font=Century Gothic]This is certainly a sweet story but… More
  [font=Century Gothic]In "Everlasting Moments," Maria(Maria Heiskenan) and Sigge(Mikael Persbrandt) win a camera in a lottery. Maria claims ownership but Sigge wants to share, so he suggests they get married.[/font] [font=Century Gothic]This is certainly a sweet story but also a patently lousy reason for getting married which expresses itself perfectly in 1907 more than ten years later when their daughter's teacher Miss Ost(Annika Lundgren) visits, bringing a copy of "Uncle Tom's Cabin" with her. Sigge interrupts the meeting stinking drunk with a couple of his friends. This is not an unusual occurrence as he is constantly being tossed out of the local temperance union. And his job on the docks is certainly no excuse for such behavior. Maria does not drink, not only having four children to care for while also accepting any odd job that comes her way. However, that is not enough when a dock strike puts Sigge out of work, so she has to sell the camera but the proprietor of a camera shop, Mr. Pedersen(Jesper Christensen), has a different idea.[/font] [font=Century Gothic]"Everlasting Moments" is a bittersweet period piece that hews very closely to the values of the period being captured, even if that may seem a little strange to those of us living a hundred years in the future. This is also a time of great innovation both in inventions like the motion picture camera and political theory like anarchism(yay!) which are making their first appearances but it takes time for them to affect the world properly. So, it should come as no surprise that it takes an even greater force of will to change one's world when one has been exploited for so long.[/font]

• Stefan P

  
  Everlasting Moments is something very unusual: a very good and well-executed movie from my home country, Sweden. The story is intriguing and the photography excellent. Great acting from Heiskanen and Persbrandt. Not an everlasting experience, but definitely memorable.