The movie is about a young man, 15 yo Olof, leaving his home and starting a life on his own. An Australian friend said: "This is Art House". I don´t agree. This movie captures ordinary people in the early 1900-hundreds, struggling to survive in a harsh environment and dreaming dreams ordinary, poor people dreamt, and still dream. The dream of a better future. That is, in a way, as mainstream as It could be. Another thing is that Olof´s saga is told with an outstanding level of cinematography. Jan Troell masters his tools extraordinarily, telling the story with extreme close-ups, astonishing panoramas, over-exposures, beautiful colors and grainy black&White footage. The sense of pictures and details characterizes Jan Troell´s work. It´s no wonder this amazing movie led him to the assignment of directing "The Emigrants" and "The New Land". Those movies made him internationally famous. Watch this, and you will see why.
Here Is Your Life
1966 [SWEDISH]
Action / Drama
Plot summary
A working class teenager comes of age in 1910s rural Sweden, moving through a series of jobs and romances that gradually shape his future.
Uploaded by: FREEMAN
September 06, 2021 at 02:52 AM
Director
Tech specs
720p.BLUMovie Reviews
Astonishing cinematography
Swedish drama from director Jan Troell
The nearly three-hour film tracks the teenage years of Olof (Eddie Axberg) in the late 1910's. He leaves home at age 15 to find work, settling in at a lumber company, meeting odd characters and learning about life. Olof later moves on to working at a movie theater, and eventually a traveling circus. His experiences shape his outlook, as does his voracious reading, with a particular interest in philosophy.
Lyrical, meandering, often beautiful, this was director Troell's feature debut. It's a snapshot of Sweden at a particular time and among a particular class, but the film holds universal appeal thanks to the quality of its compositions and the effective performances. The secondary characters come and go, with Axberg's Olof being the one constant, and he anchors the film well. The cinematography is mostly B&W, but there are bits here and there in color, usually memories or imaginings of Olof's. Recommended.
Beautifully Mounted Film
Jan Troell's debut film is a pleasure to view. It's realistic, yet artful, and shot in tasteful black and white. He takes great care with poetry of nature, along with picturesque composition.
Alas, when it comes to original narrative, Mr. Troell doesn't demonstrate that's his forte. The film for me felt largely redundant, as though almost half could be deleted for a stronger cumulative statement.
Later on in his career, "The Immigrants" and "The New Land" revealed the film maker's talent best realized. In contrast, "Here's Your Life" merely shows technical promise in its photographic imagery. What's needed is a skilled writer.
It's easy to understand the work being selected by Sweden as its entry in the Academy Award foreign language category--and the Academy's rejecting it's qualification.
Today it's a "forgotten film" shown occasionally on the TCM network.