Don't Listen to the Other Reviews!
Added 8/13/2009
I don't know what disk some of the other reviewers were talking about, but they definitely were not commenting on the Criterion Collection edition of "My Life As A Dog", in spite of what they said. The Criterion disk IS anamorphic widescreen, and it is of superior video quality. The video quality is flawless, exactly what you would expect from Criterion. There is a syncing problem with the subtitles at one point, but it is minor and only lasts for a short time. It is not worth worrying about.
I don't know what the writers motives are, but their comments about the aspect ratio and the video quality of this Criterion release are flat-out wrong. Don't let what they said deter you from purchasing this fine edition of this excellent movie.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
|
Soft psycho movie
Added 5/2/2009
A film of a boy as mother of him was passing away. I feel story's soft inclination to Julien Donkey-Boyalso Sweden's movie had originated earlier.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
|
Swedish Charmer
Added 3/20/2009
This Swedish film offers a different kind of story and a strangely appealing one.
Anton Glanzelius is good as the 12-year-old who not only stars in the movie but does a good job narrating it as well. When he finds himself in a tough situation, he always compares himself to something worse, such as a Soviet space dog and its unfortunate lot. The tomboyish-looking young girl who flirts with him, Melinda Kinnaman, is fun to watch, too. I wonder what she looks like now as an adult?
For kids that young, I thought there was a little too much emphasis on sex, but mostly it's just natural curiosity of what the other sex looks like, and the intentions are innocent.
Overall, it is a charming film with almost all (one exception: his older brother) likable people.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
|
An film about a snippet of life.
Added 4/24/2008
This film seems ordinary when watching it though interesting, but by the time the story comes to a close you realize you've enjoyed to whole film and that it's a beautiful story.I think this is a story that reaches out to all who watch it and that we can all relate to it on one level or another.
It is an honest and lovely film, well recommended.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
|
Essential cinema: Hallström's 'Mitt liv som hund.'
Added 7/25/2007
Swedish director, Lars Sven (Lasse) Hallström's (1946) film, My Life as a Dog (Mitt liv som hund) (1985) tells the bittersweet story of a working-class 12-year-old, Ingemar (Anton Ganzelius), who is sent to live with his uncle Gunnar (Tomas von Brömssen) and his wife Ulla (Kicki Rundgren) in a small rural town in Småland, after his mother (Anki Lidén) becomes terminally ill. In Småland, he encounters a variety of warmhearted eccentics: Saga (Melinda Kinnaman), a tomboy who repeatedly beats him in boxing; Fransson (Magnus Rask), a man who continually fixes the roof of his house; and Mr. Arviddson (Didrik Gustavsson), an old man living downstairs who asks Ingemar to read to him from a lingerie catalog. At one especially memorable point in the film, Ingemar clings to Saga's leg and starts barking like a dog. Upset by his strange behavior, Saga tells Ingemar during a boxing match that his beloved family dog, Sickan (which he had thought was in a kennel) has been euthanized. This, along with his mother's death, is too much for Ingemar. He reassures himself throughout the film that it could have been worse, reciting several examples, such as the man who took a shortcut onto the field during a track meet only to be killed by a javelin, and the story of the dog "Laika," the first creature sent into orbit by the Russians (without any way to return to Earth). Hallström later went on to direct What's Eating Gilbert Grape, Something to Talk About, The Cider House Rules, and An Unfinished Life.
My Life as a Dog is among my all-time film favorites, and it consistently ranks in critical top movie lists. The Criterion edition offers an amazingly crisp digital transfer of the film, with a clear soundtrack and score, a 52-minute film by Lasse Hallström: Shall We Go to Your or My Place or Each Go Home Alone?, a video interview with Lasse Hallström, and Kurt Vonnegut's reflections on My Life as a Dog.
G. Merritt
8 out of 8 people found this helpful.
|
Don't Listen to the Other Reviews!
Added 8/13/2009
I don't know what disk some of the other reviewers were talking about, but they definitely were not commenting on the Criterion Collection edition of "My Life As A Dog", in spite of what they said. The Criterion disk IS anamorphic widescreen, and it is of superior video quality. The video quality is flawless, exactly what you would expect from Criterion. There is a syncing problem with the subtitles at one point, but it is minor and only lasts for a short time. It is not worth worrying about.
I don't know what the writers motives are, but their comments about the aspect ratio and the video quality of this Criterion release are flat-out wrong. Don't let what they said deter you from purchasing this fine edition of this excellent movie.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
|
Soft psycho movie
Added 5/2/2009
A film of a boy as mother of him was passing away. I feel story's soft inclination to Julien Donkey-Boyalso Sweden's movie had originated earlier.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
|
Swedish Charmer
Added 3/20/2009
This Swedish film offers a different kind of story and a strangely appealing one.
Anton Glanzelius is good as the 12-year-old who not only stars in the movie but does a good job narrating it as well. When he finds himself in a tough situation, he always compares himself to something worse, such as a Soviet space dog and its unfortunate lot. The tomboyish-looking young girl who flirts with him, Melinda Kinnaman, is fun to watch, too. I wonder what she looks like now as an adult?
For kids that young, I thought there was a little too much emphasis on sex, but mostly it's just natural curiosity of what the other sex looks like, and the intentions are innocent.
Overall, it is a charming film with almost all (one exception: his older brother) likable people.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
|
