Movie Review by Susan Hodgetts
Starring: Maria Heiskanen, Mikael Persbrandt, Jesper Christensen, Tero Kaukoma
Director: Jan Troell
A love letter to the lens and all those who have been inspired by it, EVERLASTING MOMENTS brings us the bittersweet, nostalgic tale of a young working-class woman who wins a camera in a lottery in early 1900s Sweden.
Maria’s first impulse is to sell the camera, but the fascinating machine is a curiosity she decides to keep. Years later, Maria is married to unskilled labourer Sigfrid Larsson and their growing family is desperate for money in a time of poverty, war and unrest. Walking into the local photographer’s shop is a decision that will change her life, creating both a means of survival and a threat. Not only does the shop’s owner, the photographer Sebastian Pedersen, show her how to use the camera to see the world through new eyes, the pair also begin a long standing friendship which dares to make her alcoholic, womanising husband jealous.
Inspired by the true story of Maria Larsson, her eldest daughter Maja was interviewed in depth and her recollections are the basis for the narrative.
Told with a warm heart and beautifully photographed, the film is both moving and lovingly acted and directed, a poetic visual on how the discovery of creativity can enhance and bring meaning in testing times.
