Popular Music (2004)

I don't get it. Why is this movie so popular here in Scandinavia? It's utter crap. I wasn't amused at all when watching this movie. The acting is decent, which is why I give the movie 2 out of 10 points. Movies are supposed to keep the viewer glued to the chair, wanting to see more, but this isn't the case with this movie. It's a boring ride from start to finish.I understand that Scandinavian film producers want some recognition as well - but what a bad example this is. This is the reason I'm not too hyped about nordic movies. I was left with a sad feeling after watching this movie. I actually wonder how I even managed to stay awake during the time this movie lasted. Not worth watching at all. A lousy movie with a really boring story to boot.

The movie came out here in our city before 9 months but only some small cinemas showed it. It wasn't easy to find a cinema so I waited till the DVD was out. I rented the DVD last night and I have to admit that I wanted to watch that movie since over 4 months but never found it at my place. I laughed, I felt disgusted, I had silent moments and maybe even a small tear dropped out of my eye ;). And that is what I expect from a good movie - it has to touch me inside and make me wanting to talk about it. The movie has many raw scenes but at the same time also subtle moments. It is about friendship, become and being a man and follow your dreams - it is raw and poetic! And I saw it today again to get every detail of that wonderful movie.

This felt like if you haven't read the book, you are not invited to understand this movie! This portrays the north north Swedes as the drunkest people in the world, and they might challenge that with the north north people in Finland. This movie is far away from other Swedish movie like My Life as a Dog, Slingshot, As It is in Heaven and even MasDevils. Scenes comes and goes, most of them are bizarre, grotesque, sick, non-relevant and makes no sense to the rest of the story, since most threads is left in the air anyway. Björn Kjellman speaks Skånska as if he was educated at Jan Malmsjö School of fake Skånska academy, and many actors speak as if they forgot what movie they are in and wanders in and out of dialect. Any Åsa-Nisse or Janne Vängman movie when he says "Tjo Flöjt", or Three Stooges, or even Teen-agers from Outer Space has a better story thread than this awful mess.Avoid this movie!!! This is not what it sounds like! It's not a warm and funny or bittersweet coming of age movie!

And highly so. I haven't read the book, nonetheless the whole setting seemed very promising. But after a few moments of funny and/or enthralling and well-filmed moments and motives, the whole thing just fell apart. Focus on the music and character development was lost almost completely, drowned in bodily fluids (spilled a little bit too freely for my taste). There are some scenes worth watching, but most of the humorous motives are dragged to a slow death, and the serious ones aren't handled very well enough to give identification or deep insight to the characters.As an illustration for the book, the movie may work, especially for those born in North Sweden or Suomi, but not as a stand-alone comedy or drama, because it tries to be both the coming-of-age-with-a-little-help-from-the-Beatles-drama and the life-in-North-Sweden-is-hard-but-hilarious-comedy and ends up being a very weak mixture of them.