Stockholm is not the only syndrome.
"Dad" is not the only word.
Neneh Cherry is not the only actor.
It reminded me a little of Robinson in Space (1997). From the description on IMDB of that much earlier work: "Robinson is commissioned to investigate the unspecified "problem of England." The narrator describes his seven excursions, with the unseen Robinson, around the country."
But here the narration is drab and tired-out, so low-key. At any moment, it seemed like Neneh Cherry's character would decide she was more in the mood for a trip to Dignitas than a snail's pace mooch around Stockholm.
A film that makes you realise it is not inappropriate to walk out of a home cinema. (I gave it 24 minutes before I found myself out on the street.)
Stockholm, My Love
2016
Action / Drama / Musical
Stockholm, My Love
2016
Action / Drama / Musical
Keywords: stockholm, sweden
Plot summary
Stockholm My Love is a city symphony, a love letter to Stockholm, the fiction debut of director Mark Cousins and the acting debut of musician Neneh Cherry. It follows one woman's footsteps through the streets of her native city, on a journey of recovery from a bad thing that happened to her exactly one year before. It's an exploration of grief, identity and the power of architecture and urbanism to shape lives, and a celebration of the power of walking and looking to make us all feel just a little bit better. With new music by Neneh Cherry, old music by Benny Andersson (of ABBA) and Franz Berwald, and images by Christopher Doyle and Mark Cousins.
Uploaded by: FREEMAN
Director
Top cast
Tech specs
720p.BLU 1080p.BLUMovie Reviews
Oranges are not the only fruit
Not a travelogue!
This film is certainly not a drama, nor a musical (as the IMdB genre tags have it),though a dramatic event and music are central to its purpose. And it's not 'easy viewing'. It's been described here as boring and pretentious, and such a description cannot easily be dismissed. And yet, at the end I decided it had been time well spent, though perhaps a little less time might have been adequate for its task. Some of the images are very beautiful indeed and relate to the fact that the narrator (and only character) is an architect. She uses her reflections on certain places in Stockholm (especially churches) as a way of coming to terms with her involvement in a fatal road accident. Such a coming-to-terms is a slow and often repetitive process, and although at times the film is turgid, it ultimately feels meditative and redemptive.
Sense of place
Whilst seemingly contemplative and questioning happiness or is it contentment the film triggers thoughts of place, belonging, loss and happiness. The use of repetitive images and secequences act like a visual rhyme that emphasises and underpins the journey through the city both in space and time.
Whilst it might be thought of as downbeat in fact it seems more a celebration and as implied in the title about love for the city where life love and loss have meaning.
Thoughtful idea for a film in a time when place, belonging and identity are something increasingly problematic for many. Also a film that stayed with me visually.