Together

A film set in Sweden in the mid-1970s. Elisabeth is beaten by her husband. One night she takes her children and leaves, going to her brother Göran. Göran lives in a commune. The house is crowded: they have built a socialist community, share everything, eat no meat and will not have a television. Everyone has an opinion and the arguments never end. Elisabeth's children enter that setting. It is not bad for the girl; the boy makes friends with a child next door so that he can watch television. The commune's own contradictions make the comedy: the washing-up rota, who is with whom, an argument about toy guns and whether there will be sugar in the birthday cake. There is also the line of the husband left behind. He is alone, drinking and wants his wife back; the film does not make him wholly bad. Where the narrative arrives is that the community stands on daily need more than on ideology: people need each other, and the ideas come second to that. Lisa Lindgren, Michael Nyqvist, Gustaf Hammarsten and Emma Samuelsson are in the cast. Lukas Moodysson directed. The look is kept to the period: soft colours, real locations and a hand-held camera. A warm choice for anyone who likes Scandinavian cinema and comedies about communities. For a viewer expecting sharp satire, the film mocks nobody and looks at everyone with understanding.