Ein einfacheres Leben

Expecting a relatively quiet film with typical Swedish landscape backgrounds, I was definitely not disappointed. It was not a brilliant plot, in fact I thought the main plot was rather lacking in fantasy and was filmed in such a way that anyone could follow. However, this was more than made up for by the developments away from the central story. In particular, the young residents' night time party added some pace, a welcome relief from the steadiness of most of the film, and toned down the hanseatic reservation of the Hamburg family. One cannot expect top-class acting from such a production, but all the actors, both young and old, made their characters as credible as the script would allow. At times I could feel the discomfort of various characters as they were less talkative than they perhaps wanted to be.

The backdrop of the film was really good to look at. In Sweden there were plenty of trees and a wonderful lake, and in Hamburg there were some modern office and rapid transit developments near the port and the central station.

Whereas I do not think that anyone will regard this as their favourite film, it was entertaining enough to be very enjoyable.