Together (2000 film)
Encyclopedia
Together is a 2000 comedy
/drama
film. It is Swedish director Lukas Moodysson
's second full length film. Set in a Stockholm
commune called "Tillsammans" (Swedish for "Together") in 1975, it is a satirical view at socialist values and a bittersweet comedy.
that sprang up around Stockholm
in the 1970s. Vaguely led by the sweet-natured Göran, who will do anything to avoid a conflict, the group spend their time arguing about left-wing politics and other questions such as whether doing the dishes is bourgeois. The commune's dynamics are significantly shaken when Göran's sister leaves her violent husband Rolf and moves in with her two children, Eva and Stefan.
Self-declared lesbian
Anna lives in the commune with her ex-husband Lasse and their son Tet (named after the Tet offensive) who befriends Stefan playing games such as "torture the Pinochet victim" where, in the spirit of equality, they take turns at being Pinochet. Eva meanwhile befriends a lonely boy across the street, whose own family whilst being as conventional as possible on the surface, proves to be even more dysfunctional than the commune of whom they so openly disapprove. The children are portrayed as sidelined by everyone in the film, from the new school where they are bullied to the parents who, whilst genuinely loving, are too busy experimenting with their own freedom to show it.
Elisabeth's husband Rolf makes a concerted effort to clean up his act, although not before getting drunk and arrested which leaves his children stranded on a roadside after a disastrous meal in a Chinese restaurant. Further relationship problems are found with Klas who is desperately in love with Lasse and between Göran and his selfish and immature girlfriend who wants the benefits of an open relationship but not the responsibilities.
The film ends on a feel good note played out to ABBA
where (almost) all of the characters seem to find the love they need amongst each other.
and Gothenburg
October 27, 1999 and ended December 20, 1999. The artist Carl Johan De Geer
created the film's contemporary environments.
Comedy
Comedy , as a popular meaning, is any humorous discourse or work generally intended to amuse by creating laughter, especially in television, film, and stand-up comedy. This must be carefully distinguished from its academic definition, namely the comic theatre, whose Western origins are found in...
/drama
Drama
Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance. The term comes from a Greek word meaning "action" , which is derived from "to do","to act" . The enactment of drama in theatre, performed by actors on a stage before an audience, presupposes collaborative modes of production and a...
film. It is Swedish director Lukas Moodysson
Lukas Moodysson
- External links :*...
's second full length film. Set in a Stockholm
Stockholm
Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...
commune called "Tillsammans" (Swedish for "Together") in 1975, it is a satirical view at socialist values and a bittersweet comedy.
Plot summary
Together is set in one of the communesCommune (intentional community)
A commune is an intentional community of people living together, sharing common interests, property, possessions, resources, and, in some communes, work and income. In addition to the communal economy, consensus decision-making, non-hierarchical structures and ecological living have become...
that sprang up around Stockholm
Stockholm
Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...
in the 1970s. Vaguely led by the sweet-natured Göran, who will do anything to avoid a conflict, the group spend their time arguing about left-wing politics and other questions such as whether doing the dishes is bourgeois. The commune's dynamics are significantly shaken when Göran's sister leaves her violent husband Rolf and moves in with her two children, Eva and Stefan.
Self-declared lesbian
Lesbian
Lesbian is a term most widely used in the English language to describe sexual and romantic desire between females. The word may be used as a noun, to refer to women who identify themselves or who are characterized by others as having the primary attribute of female homosexuality, or as an...
Anna lives in the commune with her ex-husband Lasse and their son Tet (named after the Tet offensive) who befriends Stefan playing games such as "torture the Pinochet victim" where, in the spirit of equality, they take turns at being Pinochet. Eva meanwhile befriends a lonely boy across the street, whose own family whilst being as conventional as possible on the surface, proves to be even more dysfunctional than the commune of whom they so openly disapprove. The children are portrayed as sidelined by everyone in the film, from the new school where they are bullied to the parents who, whilst genuinely loving, are too busy experimenting with their own freedom to show it.
Elisabeth's husband Rolf makes a concerted effort to clean up his act, although not before getting drunk and arrested which leaves his children stranded on a roadside after a disastrous meal in a Chinese restaurant. Further relationship problems are found with Klas who is desperately in love with Lasse and between Göran and his selfish and immature girlfriend who wants the benefits of an open relationship but not the responsibilities.
The film ends on a feel good note played out to ABBA
ABBA
ABBA was a Swedish pop group formed in Stockholm in 1970 which consisted of Anni-Frid Lyngstad, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson and Agnetha Fältskog...
where (almost) all of the characters seem to find the love they need amongst each other.
Cast
- Lisa LindgrenLisa LindgrenElisabet "Lisa" Lindgren is a Swedish actress.-Filmography:*Tillsammans *Hans och hennes *Klassfesten *Skenäktenskap * 2002 – Tusenbröder...
as Elisabeth - Michael NyqvistMichael NyqvistRolf Åke Michael Nyqvist is a Swedish actor. Educated at the School of Drama in Malmö, he became well known from his role as police officer Banck in the first series of Beck movies made in 1997. He is recently most recognized for his role in the internationally acclaimed Millennium series as...
as Rolf, Elisabeth's husband - Emma Samuelsson as Eva, Elisabeth's and Rolf's daughter
- Sam Kessel as Stefan, Elisabeth's and Rolf's son
- Gustaf HammarstenGustaf HammarstenGustaf Hammarsten is a Swedish film, television and theatre actor.-Film:He has appeared in more than ten films starting with his first appearance in a small role in The Best Intentions directed by Bille August...
as Göran, Elisabeth's brother - Jessica Liedberg as Anna
- Ola NorellOla RapaceOla Rapace is a Swedish actor. He is best known in Sweden for roles in the popular TV series Tusenbröder and the first season of the Swedish TV series Wallander which is based on Henning Mankell's Kurt Wallander books...
as Lasse - Axel Zuber as Tet, Anna and Lasse's son
- Shanti RoneyShanti RoneyShanti Grau Roney is a Swedish actor. While his film credits include nearly twenty movies, most of these have been limited to a domestic or Scandinavian release...
as Klas - Olle SarriOlle Sarri-Films:*1989 - The Journey to Melonia*1996 - Monopol*1997 - Välkommen till festen*2000 - Together*2001 - Om inte*2006 - Kidz in da Hood*2009 - The Ape*2010 - Äntligen Midsommar-Television:* 1978 - Olles mammas morbror...
as Erik Andersson - Anja Lundqvist as Lena, Görans girlfriend
- Sten LjunggrenSten LjunggrenSten Ljunggren is a Swedish character actor. He played Henrik in the long-running Swedish drama TV series Svenska hjärtan, which aired between 1987 to 1998...
as Birger - Cecilia FrodeCecilia FrodeCecilia Frode is a Swedish actress born on 14 August 1970 in Linköping.She graduated from the theatre school in Malmö in 1994. She also won a Guldbagge for best supporting actor in the Swedish comedy film Klassfesten...
as Signe - Lars Frode as Sigvard
- Emil Moodysson as Måne
- Henrik Lundström as Fredrik
Development
The filming began in TrollhättanTrollhättan
Trollhättan is a city and the seat of Trollhättan Municipality, Västra Götaland County, Sweden with 44,498 inhabitants in 2005. It is located 75 km north of Sweden's second-largest city, Gothenburg....
and Gothenburg
Gothenburg
Gothenburg is the second-largest city in Sweden and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated on the west coast of Sweden, the city proper has a population of 519,399, with 549,839 in the urban area and total of 937,015 inhabitants in the metropolitan area...
October 27, 1999 and ended December 20, 1999. The artist Carl Johan De Geer
Carl Johan De Geer
Carl Johan Louis De Geer af Finspång is a Swedish artist, writer, musician and friherre of the De Geer noble family.Carl Johan De Geer grew up in a castle in Skåne, in southern Sweden...
created the film's contemporary environments.
Soundtrack
- ABBAABBAABBA was a Swedish pop group formed in Stockholm in 1970 which consisted of Anni-Frid Lyngstad, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson and Agnetha Fältskog...
- "SOSSOS (ABBA song)Agnetha Fältskog's version was the second single from her fifth Swedish solo-album Elva kvinnor i ett hus . It was the only song from this album not to have been composed by Fältskog herself....
" - Maggie BellMaggie BellMaggie Bell is a Scottish rock and blues-rock singer, regarded by some as Britain's answer to Janis Joplin.-Career:...
- "Caddo Queen" - Hoola Bandoola BandHoola Bandoola BandHoola Bandoola Band was a Swedish progg group from the 1970s with leftist political texts. Leading members were Mikael Wiehe and Björn Afzelius.-History:Hoola Bandoola Band was, together with Nationalteatern, the biggest band of the Swedish progg movement...
- "Vem kan man lita på?" - Pugh RogefeldtPugh RogefeldtPugh Rogefeldt, real name Anders Sture Torbjörn Rogefeldt , is a Swedish singer, musician, guitarist and songwriter.-Biography:...
- "Här kommer natten" - Ted GärdestadTed GärdestadTed Gärdestad , internationally known as Ted Gardestad, Ted Gaerdestad or just Ted was a Swedish singer, songwriter and musician.-Early career:...
- "Jag vill ha en egen måne" - Tony Hung - "Paddy Fields No. 1"
- Peps BlodsbandPeps PerssonPeps Persson is a Swedish blues and reggae musician from Tjörnarp, Scania. Throughout his career he has mostly made music in Swedish and is well known for his Scanian dialect...
- "Onådens år" - NazarethNazareth (band)Nazareth is a Scottish hard rock band, founded in 1968, that had several hits in the UK in the early 1970s, and established an international audience with their 1975 album Hair of the Dog. Perhaps their best-known hit single was a cover of the ballad "Love Hurts", in 1975...
- "Love HurtsLove Hurts"Love Hurts" is the name of a song, written and composed by Boudleaux Bryant. First recorded by The Everly Brothers in July 1960, the song is also well known from a 1975 international hit version by the rock band Nazareth and in the UK by a top 5 hit in 1975 by Jim Capaldi.The song was introduced...
" - International HarvesterTräd, Gräs & StenarTräd, Gräs & Stenar is a Swedish rock band formed in 1969. The group was one of the front acts of the Swedish progg scene, although noticeably less political than their contemporary counterparts....
- "It's Only Love" - Ted GärdestadTed GärdestadTed Gärdestad , internationally known as Ted Gardestad, Ted Gaerdestad or just Ted was a Swedish singer, songwriter and musician.-Early career:...
- "Så mycket bättre" - Bo HanssonBo HanssonBo Hansson was a Swedish musician best known for his four instrumental albums released in the 1970s.-Early life and musical career:...
- "The Black Riders (Flight to the Ford)" - Shit & Chanel - "Jorden Vinden Fuglene"
- Shit & Chanel - "Fandango"
- Bo HanssonBo HanssonBo Hansson was a Swedish musician best known for his four instrumental albums released in the 1970s.-Early life and musical career:...
- "Leaving Shire" - NationalteaternNationalteaternNationalteatern is a Swedish progg rock group from the 1970s that featured leftist political lyrics. It was originally a traveling theater ensemble with many members, most notably Ulf Dageby, Anders Melander, Totta Näslund, Nikke Ström, Hans Mosesson and Pale Olofsson.-History:Initially formed as a...
- "Hanna från Arlöv" - Tony Hung - "Morning Stroll"
- Bo HanssonBo HanssonBo Hansson was a Swedish musician best known for his four instrumental albums released in the 1970s.-Early life and musical career:...
- "At the House of Elrond and the Ring Goes South" - Marie Selander - "Vi är många"
- Turid - "Song"
- Ted GärdestadTed GärdestadTed Gärdestad , internationally known as Ted Gardestad, Ted Gaerdestad or just Ted was a Swedish singer, songwriter and musician.-Early career:...
- "Come Give Me Love"