Product Details

• Actors: Maria Heiskanen, Mikael Persbrandt, Jesper Christensen, Callin Öhrvall, Nellie Almgren
• Directors: Jan Troell
• Writers: Jan Troell, Agneta Ulfsäter-Troell, Maja Öman, Niklas Rådström
• Producers: Bella Seward, Christer Nilson, Christof Groos
• Format: Subtitled, Widescreen
• Language: Swedish
• Subtitles: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.77:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: Unrated
• Studio: Criterion
• DVD Release Date: June 29, 2010
• Run Time: 131 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B003E0YU0Y
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #74,261 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "Everlasting Moments (The Criterion Collection) [Blu-ray]" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

EVERLASTING MOMENTS - Blu-Ray Movie

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Gentle Miracle of a Film, September 9, 2009

By 

Grady Harp (Los Angeles, CA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Everlasting Moments (DVD)

EVERLASTING MOMENTS ('Maria Larssons eviga ögonblick') is a quiet, gentle masterpiece of filmmaking. The screenplay by Niklas Rådström, based on a story by Agneta Ulfsäter-Troell and director Jan Troell, is so free of the expected extended dialogues that accompany films of this nature that it allows the magic of the period piece set in early 20th century Sweden to rely on the beauty of the cinematography by Mischa Gavrjusjov and Jan Troell and the subtle and simple film score by Matti Bye (with a little help from Massenet!). Filmed in the color scheme suggestive of the distinguished Danish painter Vilhelm Hammershøi, never straying far from sepia tones that ignite the solitude and light of the Nordic countries, this film could probably be successful as a silent movie - that is how powerful the production is.

We are told in the voice over introduction that Maria Larsson (the exceptional Finnish actress Maria Heiskanen) won a camera in a lottery and the only way she would share the strange prize would be if her boyfriend Sigfrid (Mikael Persbrandt) would marry her. The couple marries and begins a large family: Maria takes in sewing and Sigfrid works at the docks - and drinks to excess. Maria's world becomes progressively unhappy and though she continues to have children she longs for a life free of the influence of Sigfrid's alcoholism and womanizing. She finds her hidden camera and thinking to pawn it for money to support her children she seeks the advice of an older photographer Sebastian Pedersen (Jesper Christensen) who convinces her to discover the magic of photography as a means of expression and makes it possible for Maria to keep her camera and learn the art of photography. In Maria's oppressive life there is now a light as seen through the lens of her camera that allows her to sustain herself through times of social change, war (WW I), Sigfrid's imprisonment, and a clandestine love affair with the kind and caring Sebastian. The story moves slowly, like a stroll in the wintry woods, and introduces many characters whose significance grow through the film. The ending of the story is as gentle as a dream, or as an everlasting moment. It is sheer magic. For this viewer this is one of the finest films to come along in years. In Swedish and Finnish with subtitles. Highly recommended. Grady Harp, September 09

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Everlasting Moments is OUTSTANDING, December 12, 2009

By 

S. Detweiler "Pearl" (Green Bay, WI United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Everlasting Moments ( Maria Larssons eviga ögonblick ) ( Die ewigen Augenblicke der Maria Larsson ) [ NON-USA FORMAT, PAL, Reg.2 Import - United Kingdom ] (DVD)

As a photography teacher I found the film outstanding for college level students or anyone who loves photography. It has a quiet yet powerful way it moves through a story about a woman and how essentially she is saved because of her ability with the camera and to take pictures. The film itself is packed full of powerful images and moments of realization. Wonderful dialogue and moments all real photographers can relate to that floats in and out of the story about photography and the position of the photographer such as quotes that went something like this "when I am photographing I forget I am a mother" or "not everyone can see". I would watch it again and again. If you are not a photographer but have a heart at all its an enduring story that anyone can appreciate and enjoy. Amazing film - I was carried away.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful, subtle, touching, February 15, 2010

By 

Keris Nine - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Everlasting Moments ( Maria Larssons eviga ögonblick ) ( Die ewigen Augenblicke der Maria Larsson ) [ NON-USA FORMAT, PAL, Reg.2 Import - United Kingdom ] (DVD)

There's something almost too clean and perfect about Jan Troell's depiction of life in Sweden in the early 1900s. The film depicts the poverty and the troubles of one ordinary working class family, a family whose struggle to get by isn't helped by a violent father, a dock worker and labourer, whose drinking binges gradually come to terrorise the family, while his carrying-on with barmaids bring down the family name. Seen through the eyes of their daughter Maja Larsson, it's almost as if the worst horrors are kept private, the film's tasteful lighting, sepia tints and sensitive piano score from Matti Bye only adding to the impression of a somewhat idealised depiction of events that really aren't that pleasant at all.

In the end however, and even throughout, the strength of the film is indeed in its subtlety, in its refusal to appeal to the viewer's sentiments in regard to poverty and brutality of an underprivileged upbringing, and instead focus on the positive aspects of family togetherness and their attempts to rise above their troubles. In narrative terms, it's done with great sensitivity and subtlety through the device of the mother Maria Larsson's discovery of the miracle and beauty of photography and a deep friendship that she strikes up with the owner of a photography shop - two events that help her create for herself a life of her own.

The real strength however is in the performances that get to the heart of the characters and the times they live in. All of them are exceptional, but particularly from Maria Heiskanen, who delicately captures the nuances of a remarkable range of emotions that her character must undergo, all of them suppressed by the need for propriety, for her inability to understand the emotions that arise within her, and simply from a strict upbringing that doesn't allow their expression - but woe betide the person who takes that surface impassivity for weakness.

The gorgeous cinematography, the film's wonderful lighting and colour tints come across exceptionally well on the UK DVD release. Only fixed subtitles which are very small indeed spoil the overall impression. Dolby Digital 2.0 and 5.1 audio mixes are available. Extra include a Photo Gallery and a half-hour making of feature Troell Behind The Camera, which looks at the original true story that the film is based on with some of Maria Larsson's original photographs.