My Life As A Dog (DVD)

...carry on.

My Opinion
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It is sobering to think that Lasse Hallström started his career directing Abba videos before he went on to his more well known successes in American cinema. However even though his American films have received great acclaim “My Life as a Dog” remains, as Hallström admits in the interview on this DVD, his most resonant work.

There have been many films about childhood ...
...I had a smile on my face (or a tear in my eye) most of the way through.

This is in my opinion a truly remarkable film. It is difficult to describe why it is such a gem. It is beautiful, sensitive, funny, tragic, poignant, nostalgic, charming – I could go on... It has wonderfully engaging characters, an off-beat storyline and some really unforgettable scenes.

The acting is excellent, particularly that of Anton Glanzelius ... more

“Mitt liv som hund” or “My Life as a Dog” is a Swedish film directed by Lasse Hallström (What's Eating Gilbert Grape , Cider House Rules, Chocolat and The Shipping News) and based on the novel by Reidar Jönsson. It was released in 1985 and was nominated for 2 Oscars and a BAFTA in 1988 and won Golden Globe Award for “Best Foreign Language Film”. It is in Swedish with English subtitles – I believe a dubbed version is available but please, please do not watch a dubbed version!

Plot
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Set in 1950's Sweden this is the story of 12 year old Ingemar (Anton Glanzelius) . He lives with his mother (Anki Lidén), his older brother Erik (Manfred Serner) and his dog Sicklan. He has fond memories of happy times spent with his mother but she is now very ill (with what seems to be TB) and has become angry and has retreated into a life of books. His father is not present – the explanation being that he works abroad loading bananas but we are led to suspect that is just what the children are told.

So Ingemar’s mother has to cope with her illness and two boys who are always fighting and getting into trouble. Ingemar does not get on well with his brother Erik who torments him, an example being when Erik decides to demonstrate how babies are made to some schoolfriends using Ingemar and a bottle as props. This leads to Ingemar having to be released from the bottle by his mother – a humiliating experience.

Ingemar rationalises the down points in his life by contemplating how things could be worse. In this he constantly thinks of the dog Laika sent into space and left to starve.

But then in order to give his mother some rest Ingemar is sent way to stay with his slightly eccentric uncle (Tomas von Brömssen) and his wife. His uncle works in the glass factory that is the main employer in his small rural town. Here Ingemar comes across a number of odd characters including a boy with green hair, a woman who takes him along as a chaperone as she poses nude for a local sculptor, a man who spends all his time on his roof banging in nails and a terminally ill old man who gets his only pleasure from getting Ingemar to read extracts from a Lingerie magazine to him. His most important new friend though is Saga (Melinda Kinnaman) who is a girl of his own age who pretends to be a boy so she can play in the football team. Saga also boxes and beats all that take her on. However, Saga has a problem as she is beginning to develop breasts and she implores Ingemar to help her to suggest a way of hiding them.

Ingemar returns occasionally to see his mother but when his mother dies he is sent permanently to stay with his uncle. Here the sadness brought on by his mother’s death, guilt that he may have caused it, the realization of the fate of his dog Sicklan, and an encounter with Saga that he is unable to deal with causes him to retreat into his own emotional shell. He starts to behave like Sicklan, knowing only how to bark and unwilling to be bothered by such human weaknesses as grief and despair.

Finally though Ingemar comes to realize that the friends he has around him (especially Saga) give him the strength to carry on.

My Opinion
---------------

It is sobering to think that Lasse Hallström started his career directing Abba videos before he went on to his more well known successes in American cinema. However even though his American films have received great acclaim “My Life as a Dog” remains, as Hallström admits in the interview on this DVD, his most resonant work.

There have been many films about childhood and coming of age but to me this one was the most effective I have seen in portraying the complex set of emotions that you go through before settling upon a more steady course into adulthood.

Ingemar is depicted as a young boy who has more than his fair share thrown at him and struggles to cope. He keeps his chin up by constantly thinking about how things could have been worse (done in amusing voiceover snatches). However, eventually it is all too much for him and he retreats into a spell of what seems like insanity until eventually he lets himself grieve and is then able to move forwards. Not only does Ingemar have to deal with the death of his mother, this splitting up of his family and the loss of his dog but also with the whole gamut of confusing feelings and experiences that are part of puberty.

The film is both funny and sad at the same time. There are many very funny moments such as Ingemar’s inability to get a glass to his lips when he is nervous or when he falls through a skylight whilst trying to get a glimpse of a nude model. There are also some wonderfully charming moments such as when a boxing bout between Ingemar and Saga turns into a tender hug.

The film has the ability to bring back many memories and feelings from your own childhood and this is one of the main aspects that makes it such a joy to watch – I had a smile on my face (or a tear in my eye) most of the way through.

This is in my opinion a truly remarkable film. It is difficult to describe why it is such a gem. It is beautiful, sensitive, funny, tragic, poignant, nostalgic, charming – I could go on... It has wonderfully engaging characters, an off-beat storyline and some really unforgettable scenes.

The acting is excellent, particularly that of Anton Glanzelius as Ingemar with his cheeky grin and wonderful portrayal of a wide range of emotions. Both he and Melinda Kinnaman as Saga won awards for best young actors in their roles.

Summary
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I would highly recommend “My Life as a Dog”. It explores how children are protected by innocence and adults are protected by experience but in the transition between the two there lies a minefield of vulnerability. The touching and charming nature of the film never sinks into anything schmaltzy or soppy as any Hollywood film approaching such issues would. A truly wonderful film!

Rated PG. Though the film touches on some matters of a slightly sexual nature it is portrayed with such natural innocence that the film is perfectly suitable for family viewing. My 10 and 12 year old sons enjoyed it thoroughly.

Thankyou for reading.
 

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