All Things Fair

Malmö in Sweden, 1943. The country did not enter the war but the war is everywhere: radio bulletins, blackouts and talk of the front. Stig is fifteen and there is a new teacher at school. Viola is thirty seven, married to an alcoholic travelling salesman. The teacher calls the boy to her and a relationship begins. At the same time Stig becomes friends with her husband. Bo Widerberg directs. Johan Widerberg, the director's son, plays Stig, and Marika Lagercrantz plays Viola. The narrative rests on the director's own youth, which is part of the argument around the film. Its position is not clear, and deliberately so. The narrative presents the relationship neither as a love story nor as abuse; it sets side by side that Stig does not understand what he is living and that Viola is acting out of her own helplessness. That uncertainty was argued over on release and is more contested now. Its best strand is the friendship with the husband; the man plays the boy music, talks to him and treats him as an adult. Bo Widerberg is a known figure in Swedish cinema and this is among his last films. It won an award at the Berlin film festival. Who it is for: viewers who follow Scandinavian drama and uncomfortable narratives. Who it is not for: the subject is heavy and troubling seen from now, the pace is slow, and the film delivers no judgement.