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“Happy End” is one of the most well-played Swedish films in a long time, John Croneman writes. Björn Runge’s direction is tight and the result is a showcase in acting.

I have not exactly been impressed by Björn Runge’s two previous films in the so-called Liberation Trilogy. (…) Now I see “Happy End”, a film that stretches upwards to a five-star heaven, a film completely without twists, on the contrary, low-key and almost gentle in its expression. One of the most well-played Swedish films in a long time.

The direction is tight and hard, the photo speaks to us all the time. Ulf Brantås does perhaps his best job ever.

However, I believe that the script has made the big difference, this time written by the Dane Kim Fupz Aakeson. He and Runge have turned inward, avoiding whims, kept back the expressive displays, the result is both beautiful and disturbing.

The disaster, or rather disasters, are neatly nestled already in the very early stages. One shifts uneasily; this will be a really tough journey. You want to immediately see more.

Five people are woven together by long-term relationships, casual encounters, fate also plays its tricks, no one is really in the right place. And if they are, they are in the wrong company. How will these people ever attain salvation or liberation, how will this miserable collection of humanity find its way out of a seemingly hopeless maze?

Björn Runge and Kim Fupz Aakeson have probably mulled it over for a long time – and fix it brilliantly. The resolution is an epiphany.

Jonna (Ann Petrén) is a driving instructor, lonely and a little bitter. Beside her in the car is Mårten (Peter Andersson) who’s been drowning his grief with alocohol, and have now lost his license. They develop the film’s finest relationship.

Jonna’s son, artist Peter (Gustaf Skarsgård), moves back home to his mother after (yet another) suicide attempt. At momma Jonna’s is the cleaner Katrine (Malin Buska), which Peter falls in love with and he is finally starting to paint again. He paints Katrine.

Katrine shrouds in darkness an even darker relationship. She lives with Asger (Johan Widerberg), an unpredictable, unpleasant former café owner who is now hunted by both loan sharks and the very worst kind of inner demons. The worst kind of man you can imagine, actually. He’s men’s worst traits personified – unfortunately too many women’s everyday life.

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Gustaf Skarsgård’s Peter is so teeth clenching that it hurts just looking – they should hand out mouthgards to the audience, that is how physical Skarsgård becomes, and I’ve never seen him better. Jonna and Peter have a final scene together that’s an instant classic.

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Tags: 2011, Films, Happy End, Reviews

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