Like a Rembrandt painting, “Everlasting Moments,” directed by Jan Troell, is lovely to look at, but I wouldn’t recommend spending 2 hours with it. Written by Niklas Rådström, based on a story about Troell’s wife’s ancestor, “Everlasting Moments” is slow and dull. Maria (Maria Heiskanen) is the wife of an alcoholic dockworker and the mother of seven children, including the narrator Maja (Callin Öhrvall). Husband Sigfrid (Mikael Persbrandt), who loves his children, frequently hits them when he’s drunk and cheats on Maria with other women. Maria wins a camera in a contest, and with the help of a shop owner, discovers a world that enhances her dreary life. You expect Maria to toss out her lout of a husband when she discovers she can earn enough money to support her family with her photography. That she doesn’t aligns with the accepted behavior of 1910, but leaves the viewer dissatisfied.
The main reason to see “Everlasting Moments” is Troell’s cinematography. His images shift from sepia to dreary brown to a warm golden as Maria gains confidence with her skills as a photographer. Her celebration of the common joys and losses of the poor is beautiful. What’s missing from “Everlasting Moments” is a sense of significance. We’ve spent 132 minutes with Maria and we never learn whether her photographs were ever seen by anyone other than her family and friends. Subtitles. 2/25/09
3 comments:
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