Spring Uje spring

It was a potentially good movie, but there were political statements every five minutes which annoyed me to the maximum, even if I don't necessarily disagree with the statements. I just could not watch this properly without getting annoyed.

If you're used to watch mindless Hollywood productions then this movie just isn't for you! It might confront you with some uncomfortable feelings and make you think a little. Sometimes it's refreshing to watch something a little more critical.

Political? Yes, it's political! Thank you! Few movies dare to take part in sensitive subjects and this production is not afraid of exposing them, in this case what most white swedes think but don't say openly about i.e minorities, and so on.

This movie is amazing. It's a self biography by Uje who discoveres he has Parkinsons disease. It's not a movie in a theatrical sense, it's a movie about a real person and his story about finding out about his disease. If you're searching for a thrilling ending, this is not for you. If you want to see a real story about a real person who is still alive (and therefore not a depressing ending) this is for you. It's like a documentary in past tense.

This movie is nothing short of amazing. Partially because manages to be many things at once. It's stylistically seminal, It's touching, sad and existential. It's funny, ironic and silly. The music, written and performed by Uje himself, complements the storyline perfectly. I could go on and on about how my (Swedish) generation grew up on this kind of dark and ironic humor. How much it shaped us, etc, etc. But I'll just end this review now by recommending you see it for yourself instead. It's well worth the time.

The only downside is actually that it was too short. Feels like it could have been so much more. That maybe it deserved to be fleshed out a bit more. But hey.. that's just me looking very hard for minuses.

Let's start by getting one thing out of the way; this is no 1/10 (however many films the critic claims to have seen). Film making is all about story telling - and Schyffert/Brandelius certainly do that.

They also venture into a, relatively, new format and at times push the envelope of filmmaking. However... bold and innovative as "Spring Uje, spring" may be - it reaches nowhere near excellence. It's low budget and makes no apologies for being so. But somehow it feels like it's a "dead end concept" - one where no amount of further funding would have delivered a home run.

The end result is quaint, at times slow and often borderline childish. But it is reasonable, and certainly innovative, storytelling. If you can get into the format - it delivers beyond your average Hollywood "standard".

For the cineast it delivers a few novel takes alongside a few more "don't dos". Commendable though the approach is; the shortcomings feel superior in number to the good moments. By all means watch, but it may be an acquired taste - and those with such acquisitions are likely find a few flaws.