TOGETHER
Set in 1975 in the ragtag Swedish commune of the gently ironic title, Lukas
Moodysson's genial, humane Together steers cautiously between the
outrageous anarchy of Lars von Trier's The Idiots and the vulgar inanity
of the reality-TV series Big Brother while sharing the loosely handheld
style of each. The tone at the commune seems more on the idiotic side when
erstwhile head Göran (Gustaf Hammarsten) brings in his sister Elisabeth
(Lisa Lindgren), who with her kids Eva (Emma Samuelsson) and Stefan (Sam
Kessel) is fleeing her alcoholic husband, Rolf (Michael Nyqvist). At a meeting
about housework, resident cynic Lasse (Ola Norell) has just objected to the
casual bottomlessness ("I've got a fungus") of ex-wife Anna (Jessica Lindberg)
by dropping his own pants. Things settle down, however, as aspiring lesbian
Anna empowers Elisabeth, Rolf struggles with rehab, Lasse has second thoughts
about the attentions of resident homosexual Klas (Shanti Roney), and teenage
Eva makes friends with an equally nerdy neighbor (Moodysson, whose previous
film was Show Me Love, is at his best with kids). As one departing
communal member notes, Göran tries too hard to please everyone. The same
can be said about Moodysson, whose enthusiasm about keeping people together
makes him less than honest about what keeps them apart. At the Cable
Car.
Issue Date: December 13 - 19, 2001
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