Mona Malm Movies

Swedish director Richard Hobert rounds out his series on the seven deadly sins by inviting most of the main characters from his previous films for a big ol' birthday party. Amid the streamers, party favors, and animal balloons, failed rock star and circus performer Mikael (Goran Stangertz) celebrates his 50th birthday with his longtime girlfriend Calli (Camilla Lunden) and their two kids. Mikeal finally sums up the gumption to ask for Calli's hand in marriage. Unfortunately, she is falling in love with some one else. Meanwhile, Ingrid (Lena Endre) from Run for Your Life returns from a charity gig in Africa, half-blinded by a mosquito bite, while Erik (Jakob Eklund), from the same flick, is looking for his kids. A former divorce victim in Where the Rainbow Ends, Tove (Pernilla August) is now a successful businesswoman, while Ralf, of The Hands fame, remains a drunken scumbag. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide

Stjarnsystrar is a children's film about three girls who are born on the same night in a hospital in the north of Sweden. In the sky, a bright star lights up the night. All three girls are given the name of Johanna. They grow up with no knowledge of each other, and yet they are bound by a strange feeling of longing. Eight years later, on the day of the Rose Festival, strange circumstances bring them together. Structured in three parts, the film is constructed like a fairy-tale with each segment focusing on the individual personalities. Screened at the Children's Film festival at the 49th International Berlin Film Festival, 1999. ~ Gönül Dönmez-Colin, All Movie Guide

A group of messianic pilgrims abandon their native Sweden and emigrate to Palestine. This fact-based episodic Swedish drama looks at the events leading up to the trek and the immigrants' experiences after they arrive in the holy land. The story begins in Sweden and is introduced by the death of Big Ingmar, the leader of a small farming community. Shortly thereafter, his eldest daughter Karin sends Ingmar's namesake son to be raised by another family so she can control the family farm. Years pass and Ingmar grows up to fall in love with his beauteous "step-sister" Gertrud. But the romance never fully blooms, for Ingmar must leave to earn the money he needs to buy his father's farm back from Karin. About this time, the local village is plagued by a series of ominous disasters that begin with Karin's sudden paralysis. In the midst of the ensuing superstition and chaos, a charismatic, hellfire-and-brimstone preacher shows up, and some family members begin converting to his cause. Karin becomes a true follower when the preacher prays and she is "miraculously" healed. Ingmar eventually returns to find a very different village. With not enough money to buy the farm, he marries a wealthy young woman. Broken-hearted Gertrud immediately joins the preacher's cult and decides to follow him to Palestine to await Christ's Second Coming. Three months after she leaves, a recently divorced Ingmar arrives in Palestine to try to win her back. That is but one story line among many that transpire as the pilgrims struggle with survival in their strange new homeland. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

This touching Swedish romance chronicles the youthful love affair between a septuagenarian widower and a woman in her 60s and runs it parallel to a rising rock star and his pregnant punk girl friend. The film is director Richard Hobert's sequel to Spring of Joy and is also the third entry in his Seven Deadly Sins series. Ragnar is the widower who lost his wife in the previous film. His son Mikael is the aspiring rocker and Catti, his lover. The tale begins four months after the other film ended. Ragner finds himself in love with neighboring apple-grower Vendela. She has a crush on him too. Eventually, they share their love. Trouble arises because Vendela hesitates to commit. In retaliation, Ragnar begins acting like a lovesick teen. Meanwhile Mikael celebrates his first hit record by drinking heavily and starting an affair with Suzanne. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

In this drama, based on a stage play by Agneta Pleijel, an entire family, including grandparents, their children, and the grandchildren (and their lovers, husbands and wives) have gathered to celebrate the family matriarch's birthday. In this dialogue-heavy production, the celebration provides the discontented family members with an opportunity to voice their complaints about their lives and against one another as loudly as possible. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

Caught between social commentary and a love triangle, this first film by director Lasse Glomm comes down more heavily on the side of romance, jealousy, and deception. Trond Amundsen (Gunnar Enekjaer) works in a steel mill and has been a union member all his life. Olaf (Nils Gaup) is a newcomer who sides with some anti-union protestors. Even though they are on opposite sides of the fence and Trond suffers a certain amount of mistreatment for his views, the two men become good friends. What Trond does not know is that his wife (Mona Malm) and Olaf have become involved, a situation that can only lead to trouble. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

What is so rare, and cherishable, as an Ingmar Bergman comedy? All These Women concerns the sexual misadventures of cello-playing Jarl Kulle. Amidst his many romantic pursuits, the egotistical Kulle endeavors to get his life story published, "bribing" a writer by agreeing to perform the latter's musical compositions. Bergman regulars Eva Dahlbeck, Harriet Andersson and Bibi Andersson costar in All These Women, while the screenplay was cowritten by another stalwart member of the director's stock company, Erland Josephson. Originally titled For Att Inte Talla om alla dessa Kvindor, All These Women is better known in English-speaking countries as Now About All These Women. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Harriet Andersson stars as Marianne Croneman, the bored wife of bourgeois Arvid Croneman (Ulf Palme). Marianne prefers the company of family doctor Lennart Hagg (Erik Strandmark), who reciprocates her feelings. Together, Marianne and Lennart plot the murder of Arvid, making it look like natural causes. While on their own honeymoon, the homicidal couple is brought to justice through an elaborate charade, staged by the dead man's relatives. Also known as Woman in a Fur Coat, Kvinna I Leopard manages to keep the audience guessing from start to finish. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Though he made allusions to his own life in all of his films, Fanny and Alexander was the first overtly autobiographical film by Ingmar Bergman. Taking his time throughout (188 minutes to be exact), Bergman recreates several episodes from his youth, using as conduits the fictional Ekdahl family. Alexander, the director's alter ego, is first seen at age 10 at a joyous and informal Christmas gathering of relatives and servants. Fanny is Alexander's sister; both suffer an emotional shakedown when their recently-widowed mother (Ewa Froling) marries a cold and distant minister. Stripped of their creature comforts and relaxed family atmosphere, Fanny and Alexander suddenly find their childhood unendurable. The kids' grandmother (Gunn Wallgren) "kidnaps" Fanny and Alexander for the purpose of showering them with the first kindness and affection that they've had since their father's death. This "purge" of the darker elements of Fanny and Alexander's existence is accomplished at the unintentional (but applaudable) cost of the hated stepfather's life. Ingmar Bergman insisted that Fanny and Alexander, originally a multipart television series pared down to feature-film length, represented his final theatrical film, though within a year after its release he was busy with several additional Swedish TV projects, and his final work, the 2003 Saraband (also produced for Swedish television), eventually received global theatrical distribution. Oscars went to Fanny and Alexander for Best Foreign Film, Best Cinematography (Sven Nykvist), Best Costume Design and Best Art Direction/Set Decoration. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide