Thursday, 5 June 2014

MY LIFE AS A DOG (1985)

You might remember the TV series from the mid-nineties with the same title. That was based on this 1985 film from Sweden, directed by Lasse Hallstrom which, in turn, is based on the semi-autobiographical book by Reidar Jonsson.

The story is about twelve year old Ingemar (Anton Glanzelius) who is sent to live with relatives in a small rural town during the 1950's because of his mother's terminal illness. It is also about growing up and becoming aware of who you are and where you fit in. But it is also about coming of age and discovering love for the first time.

This is yet another poignant film by this master director who was also responsible for other masterpieces like What's Eating Gilbert Grape (1993), The Cider House Rules (1999), Chocolat (2000) and Hachico: A Dog's Tale (which I wrote about on this blog not too long ago). No wonder he won the Oscar for best director for this film.

Normally, I am not too keen on watching foreign language (non-English) movies with subtitles. I regard it as a distraction (or maybe I am just lazy...). But fortunately this DVD came with an English dubbed soundtrack. So I did not have to read the story whilst trying to watch it at the same time. However, some may prefer to rather watch it with the original soundtrack. Be that as it may and regardless of your preference, this movie is highly recommended and earned four out of five stars from me.

Trailer link: 


    Anton Glanzelius

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