Britt-Marie Was Here product reviews

Everybody enjoys a simple feelgood film; to watch a film that makes you gently smile. Rather than being shocked awake by explosions, gunfire, and shaky cam footage, Britt-Marie Was Here is perhaps one of the most understated films of the year. A film that was adapted from a best-selling novel by Tuva Novotny (who recently had an earlier book adapted), what is most intriguing about the film, is its choice in casting.

Now, I haven't read the book, so I can't comment on the accuracy of the range of ethnicities in the film compared to the source material. It may, however, be a point of contention. The story takes place Borg, Sweden, which is put forward as a poor backwater, and apart from the policeman, councilman, and ex-professional footballer, all of the characters are minorities, with no development or arcs beyond pushing our main character's story forward. To some, it may come across as demeaning or even derogatory to have all of the poor characters be minorities. If, however, you can look past the colour of their skin and judge the film purely on the story, there is a surprisingly stoic gem to be seen.

Because not all of the casting is bad. Our protagonist, Britt-Marie (played by Pernilla August) is a 63-year-old woman that has just had her life turned upside down; now homeless, jobless, and without any real-world skills. It is refreshing to have a protagonist at such an age, having to restart and rediscover herself. She is neither charismatic nor talented at the task that she has to do and has the emotional range of a brick wall, and yet the down-to-earth honesty and modesty creates a sense of grounded realism that makes you want her to succeed regardless.

What makes Britt-Marie Was Here a surprising story is, the near-complete lack of conflict throughout. Issues are raised, but Britt-Marie responds to everything with planning and gets to work on a solution. The initial conflict that begins the film does not elicit a single tear or scream from our lead. She simply packs up and walks away. Her temperament rubs off on the viewer creating an almost zen-like experience, as she approaches supposed obstacles and just goes on her merry way, nothing to ever come of it. While in one sense, you could consider the narrative overly basic in the way that it approaches conflict, on the other side of the coin, the story works really hard to not overdramatize the situation or leave the audience feeling concerned.

Rambunctious kids are easily won over, "insubordinate" teens are not actually insubordinate, vandalized areas that look like gang havens provide no such conflict, directions that are not followed have no consequences. Borg is a location that appears full of dark plots and difficult obstacles, but that is not the case. Managing her struggles through cleaning, Britt-Marie Was Here is a warm feelgood flick with a dry humour that works spectacularly well.

Mature self-discovery and reinvention through sporting achievement. A basic premise that is not difficult to predict the general direction of the film, but is so even-tempered throughout that you never truly know on what side of a decision Britt-Marie will eventually fall. For the most part, she manages to keep her emotions hidden from the viewer, and it creates an oddly mysterious layer to this stoic pensioner that relies on housework to prove her worth.

It does exactly what you expect, with less conflict than usual, but as all underdog films do, you will end up with a smile on your face, despite very little actually occurring. It's nothing spectacular, but you will still remember that Britt-Marie was here.