Blondie (2012)

the audience applauded

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

Swedish screenwriter, producer and director Jesper Ganslandt's third feature film which he wrote, premiered in the Venice Days section at the 69th Venice Film Festival in 2012, was screened in the Vanguard section at the 37th Toronto International Film Festival in 2012, was shot on location in Vänersborg and Stockholm in Sweden, Paris, France and London, England and is a Swedish production which was produced by producer Jesper Kurlandsky. It tells the story about a student in London named Lova, a model in Paris named Elin and a doctor named Katarina, her husband and their two daughters named Elsa and Lovisa who comes to attend the 70th birthday of their mother.Distinctly and finely directed by Scandinavian filmmaker Jesper Ganslandt, this quietly paced fictional tale which is narrated from multiple viewpoints, draws an at times moving portrayal of three sisters' relationship with each other and their individual relationship with their mother. While notable for it's naturalistic and atmospheric milieu depictions, sterling cinematography by cinematographer Linda Wassberg and production design by production designer and art director Catharina Nyqvist Ehrnrooth, this character-driven and dialog-driven story about family relations and more specifically about women which is divided into three chapters is hardly comparable to the instructor's more reflective directorial debut "Falkenberg Farewell" (2006) and his far darker second feature film "The Ape" (2009), depicts several interrelated studies of character and contains a great score by Swedish composer Fredrik Emilson.This conversational, generational, humorous and theatrical drama which is set mostly in a country house in Sweden and where a family reunion brings a mother named Sigrid closer to her daughters, them closer to one another and alienates a husband named Janne, is impelled and reinforced by it's cogent narrative structure, substantial character development, subtle continuity, colorful characters and the commendable and prominent acting performances by Swedish actresses Maria Göranson, Helena af Sandeberg, Alexandra Dahlström, Carolina Gynning and Swedish actor Olle Sarri. A cinematographic, situational and dense character piece and an unusual family portrait.

This is a catastrophe of a film. Whatever intentions the filmmakers had, the finished result is short of a disaster.There is not a single moment where the viewer feels engaged or even invited into to this series of unrelated scenes. The story, or whatever one might call the outline, is unclear and undeveloped. A dysfunctional family, a cold-hearted mother and three troubled sisters should be plenty to build a story around. But instead the plot is non-existing and the scenes depicted are merely topped one after the other without ANY sense of direction. You know you've got a wreck on your hands when the audience starts to check their watches - ten minutes into the film!Please inform this filmmaker that he needs to learn screen writing before taking on this type of demanding material. Artistic experimentation is fine, only one needs to have a better understanding of the art of filmmaking before plummeting into such an adventure.