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14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
The Sun-dappled Swedish countryside lights up this film...., December 21, 2001
A wonderful, heart-warming story about an aging, simple-minded farmer who has never known love, and the woman he meets when he decides that if he doesn't try it once, he might never know love at all.... The actors are uniformly sweet and engaging, and the story plays itself out slowly and calmly. This is a little Swedish vacation, into the past and the countryside, and the simple life of a good-hearted farming man. Gorgeous cinematography. And wonderful details... it was great to see the traditional Mora clock, quietly ticking away, and reminding our dear farmer that life is short, and he should take life by the reigns and do his best. He does, and it's lovely. Those who love this film should see "House of Angels," another of Nutley's quiet gems. Recommended.
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20 of 24 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Oh my goodness, what a romance, February 29, 2004
While watching this movie with my husband last night, I kept saying aloud, "Oh my goodness, this is lovely, just lovely." It's so lush and lyrical and downright touching (oooh, I hate to use that word, for fear readers will think it's sappy or stupid, and it's not - but it IS touching). You fear all will not end well for dear Olaf, a huge country `boy,' a 40yo self-proclaimed virgin whose other major problem is that he's illiterate. But Olaf has a heart of the purest gold. He has lived alone on a remote Swedish country farm with his dog and his chickens, cows, and horses. There is one `friend,' Eric, a slick man-of-the-world, who has been borrowing money from him. Olaf can't even read the IOU notes Eric gives him now and then. Olaf, shy and socially awkward, has been alone since his mother's death a decade earlier. There's nothing weird about his love for his mother; you don't get the sense he's a momma's boy. It's just that, way out at the end of the road, there's not much opportunity to meet women. So he puts an ad in a big newspaper for `a housekeeper.' Enter: Ellen. Obviously a city girl, in her fitted suit, upswept French twist, and high heels. And obviously, she has a past, a secret, a hidden flaw, because otherwise, why would this urbane woman be answering an ad to go live on a remote farm? Eric, jealous and fearful that his abuse of Olaf's trust will be discovered, determines to discover Ellen's secret. That's enough of a set-up to get you started on your way to the video store to rent this absolutely beautiful, redemptive movie. See it, and recommend it to all your friends if you love it as much as I did.
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9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
One of the most beautiful movies ever!, March 22, 2006
During the middle nineteen fifties, during the cold war, Sweden was the scenario of airborne drills and military testing, the plane flies carrying weapons, emulating the birds, the real ones, and the wooden man made in the cage...and in The Little Farm (Bates book's that inspired this movie), one man is looking for a miracle, a woman to love. And what a great way to put that, wars are left behind by love stories, because is love what really matters...there is nothing new under solen. Rolf Lassard, face goes alike his horse both are noble, truth, good willed...a man eager to love, a man who believes in friendship. A simple man who can read the heart over no words. Helena Bergstrom is outstanding: pragmatic, but genuine, looking for a life in the farm, where a day of handwork has the reward of a kiss and the beauty of the passion between two people in love. The summer in the Scandinavian interior, the metaphor of the spider Webb, the clock that unwinds at 9:00 PM, the dog that respects the privacy of his master...Seeing Olof taking the horses to drink in Vanderlake...A remarkable work of Colin Nutley, the movie is almost a tranquilizer that conveys meditation, reflex ion and love. And of course...the music! It is almost a crime that there is no soundtrack, cause if you add Paddy Molloney, Gabriel Fauré Requiem opus 48, The Weeping Willows (It's so hard to always loose), Bill Whelan Celtic Heartbeat, and the Scandinavian folk...my goodness, you are in presence of a masterpiece. The sequence of "read the letter for me..." is one of the most romantic scenes ever in a movie. This is a movie, if you have had enough of FX and violence, and if you are looking for Arts and The missing romanticism of Roy Orbisson, the voice of Magnus Carlsson, The Chieftains and The Pastoral Scandinavian, this movie is for you!
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