Four Shades of Brown

The film is made of four stories that do not connect, and all four share the same subject: what parents do to their children. A man encounters a small wooden figure and his life changes. A father takes his son to a small-animal crematorium to bind him to life. In Gothenburg a group of people turn up somewhere they think is a cookery course. In the north the sons of a dead patriarch come to the funeral. The film was written by Killinggänget, Sweden's best known comedy group, and directed by Tomas Alfredson from that group; Alfredson would later be known for films like Let the Right One In and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. Three hours and twelve minutes, and the length is deliberate: scenes do not end where they ought to and the discomfort comes from that. The humour is dry and bitter. The film took four Guldbagge awards in Sweden, one of them to Alfredson for best director.