Review of Everlasting Moments (2008) by Daniel K — 13 Jul 2010

Amazing period piece from Swedish master Jan Troell, who, taking a page from "Fanny and Alexander", examines the lives of a large family in the early 20th century, focusing on a strong-willed mother who escapes the brutality of her oafish husband through a passion for photography.

But nothing is that simple in this most complex of classical family dramas, as the husband, remarkably played by Mikael Persbrandt, is anything but a stock villain, and the woman (Maria Heiskanen), hardly a delicate flower, refuses to leave, or give in to his drunkenness and occasional battery, out of duty, or oath, or love, which makes the proceedings far from cut-and-dry.

Troell's film is impeccably dressed in period detail, from the mother's excellent accordion plate camera, to the grueling details of poverty during the first world war and a socialist workers strike, but what makes it so memorable is the deep character study, the human emotion of a large, struggling family making it out with determination, and the psychology of remembrance, through joy, pain, and a beautifully composed photograph.