Search - Together on DVD

A warm comedy with serious undertones by Moodysson...

Kim Anehall | Chicago, IL USA | 02/24/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"It is the year 1975 when ABBA and the children TV show "Fem myror är fler än fyra elefanter" (translation: Five ants are more than four than five elephants) was immensely popular in Sweden. Elisabeth has just been beaten up by her husband and she has decided to move to to her brother Göran's with her two children. What makes the film more interesting is that Göran lives in a commune with a wide variety of characters that are rather radical on the left side of politics and openly display opinions and thoughts in regards to anything. At first is Elisabeth is bothered by their openness towards one another, but she realizes that she has no where else to go as a jobless housewife. As time passes Elisabeth becomes not only comfortable, but also begins to form her own notions, which strengthens her. Together (Tillsammans) is a marvelous and well directed story as it is a kaleidoscope of notions put into action in an environment where love and confrontations belong in the daily routine. Despite the confrontational situations in the film, Moodysson creates a warm atmosphere where one concept overrides all other thoughts, which is that notions are pointless in the absence of company. This results in a warm comedy with serious undertones that offer much food for thought as Moodysson leaves the audience with a brilliant cinematic experience."

Well-Made Comedy Drama from the Director of "Show Me Love"

Tsuyoshi | Kyoto, Japan | 03/04/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"(Not ot be confused with another great film of the same name, directed by Chinese master Chen Kaige.) "Together" is the second film by Lukas Moodysson, who gave us very charming film "Show Me Love." (If you have not seen it, you are just missing a great thing.) Here, Moodysson tackles different theme, a small commune in 1975 in Sweden, in which their ideals are tested by the new members of the place.The film starts when a mother Elizabeth left her home with two children, Eva and Stefan, because of the perpetual violence of the drunkard husband. Now, the plot sounds heavy, but this film never gets too serious, so we are quickly introduced to the commune named "Together" where many colorful people are living. They are Erik, young radical student whose ideas go ridiculously too far; Anna, feminist turned lesbian who likes meditating; Goran, who is too kind-hearted (or timid) to tell what he realy thinks, Lena, whose idea of Free Love is a real suspect, and others, including a boy Tet (named after the event of the war in Vietnam) who plays with Stefan, doing "mock-torturing." Now join the distraught wife Elizabeth and Eva and Stefan. The film tells how the commune react to them (and them to the commune) in a light touch, with many episodes. The general tone of the film is that of a well-made comedy, though for American audience some of the contents are very radical (nudity included). It's a Swedish film, after all.The most impressive part is, like the previous "Show Me Love," the kids. Eva and the boy living across the street establish a budding relation which might be called love, and their embarrassed feelings towards the unique adults are implied very delicately in the apparently small things -- like staying all the day in a small van (which looks like the one you see in "Scooby-Doo"). And what I liked most is the sly touch of the film, which suggests that the commune is not going to last forever. I do not talk about the ending, but from the beginning you find that the community of the kind -- hippies denying any kind of commercialism, like TV or soft drink -- belongs to the things of the past. Like the music of ABBA, it's definitely 70s. And that's why they look charming, looking back from now.You may find some of the characters annoying, but the film is delightful enough to make them, if not likeable, certainly irresitible. "Together" has that kind of power, which comples you to keep watching."

Hilarious, warm and exactly the way it was

Mia | London | 01/23/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I grew up in Sweden in the 70's, and can attest to this film being *very* realistic. Well, most of us grew up in regular family households rather than communes like this one - yet the tone, dialogue, props, setting, mood, and plot - all hit the mark exactly. Moodysson is a genius to be able to tell a whole generation's painful rite of passage with such a sense of hilarity and warmth."

This film is such a delight... highly recommended!

Joe Sixpack -- Slipcue.com | ...in Middle America | 12/29/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I had the good fortune to see this film in a theatre in Northern California, where the audience (including more than a few aging hippies) chortled and guffawed with good-natured self-recognition. The opening scenes, -- particularly a drearily, draining, painfully drawn-out, "issue-oriented" house meeting at the politicized/feminist/alternative lifestyle commune where the action takes place -- were a veritable flashback, especially for my companion, who had gone to college in Santa Cruz and had had plenty of exposure to lesbian-feminist process... It was quite funny, but in a loving, self-deprecatory way. Where many would wring laughter out of mockery and stereotyping, the director here was truthful and honest, and gave the characters the respect and depth they deserved. The interplay and fluidity between "straight" and "alternative" culture is handled with exeptional skill, particularly as seen through the eyes of two children who are thrown in the midst of the well-intentioned but disorganized soul-searching of the older generation. And for those of us who grew up in the 1970s and were exposed to similar cultural experimentation, the dual dangers and priceless opportunities of the "hippie" era are brought back in a heart-warming but not overly sentimental way. This film rings true in every way; like Richard Linklatter's "Dazed And Confused," it should be viewed by anyone who'd like to see what the 'Seventies were *really* like."