Four Shades of Brown (2004)

Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

If you don't like this, we can't be friends.

Funny, strange, confrontational and subversive, this is one of the most interesting experiences you'll have at the cinema this year.

The acting in this movie is really good.

A Swedish friend of mine sent me a DVD of this earlier this year; it has yet to arrive in Britain in any form and it seems to be impossible to order the DVD over the web. In the absence of circulating copies, I have simply been boring anyone who will listen about this amazing film. 'Four Shades of Brown' was funded by Swedish state TV, and written, performed and directed by the Killinggagets group who are well known in Sweden as a comedy troupe. The film is a collection of stories about contemporary Swedish life: the family of a dead horse trainer gather to mourn his passing, an elderly couple on tour with their magic act visit their uptight son in his coastal hotel and pick up an admirer en route, a man tries to connect with his teenage son by showing him the work he does at the pet crematorium, and a weekly 'cookery class' has turned into an encounter group where lost souls discuss their troubled lives. A couple of the strands interconnect: and some people have drawn comparisons with 'Magnolia', but frankly this film is far more original. It manages to be incredibly funny, yet in the end it addresses some very serious issues head-on. This is the most controversial aspect of the film, and on paper it might seem tasteless and impossible to bring off, but it works brilliantly and that on its own is an incredible achievement. This film is quite unique and easily the most astonishing drama to have emerged from a major TV network since the original BBC version of Dennis Potter's 'The Singing Detective' in 1986 (although in some ways it also reminds me of the dark, dark satire of British comedian Chris Morris). It's brave and wonderful and a shining example of what an enlightened state broadcasting system can achieve: Sveriges TV puts the 21st Century BBC to shame.I visited Stockholm last month and bought several copies of the DVD for friends: but it would be so much easier if some enterprising company gave the DVD a UK release soon. I live in hope.

Four shades of brown kept my attention for three hours which at least makes it a pretty good movie.The movie is four independent but related stories told in parallel. In my view the common theme is fatherhood and how lack of empathy can ruin the lives of your family members.The film does an excellent job in unfolding the minds of what at first glance seems to be admirable persons (the four fathers). The revealing truth is that they really are more or less perverted by their past, a fact they all seem to suppress and/or be unaware of.However the film merely illustrates this dilemma, and doesn't teach us anything new. It dares not go any deeper when depth is needed, and could therefore be regarded as shallow profiting on strong emotions. It is also uneven in the acting and story. This could all be forgiven because of some great acting, and what seems to be an honest intent with the movie.In all it's a pretty good movie that deserves a wide audience.

Never, ever, have I been as impressed by a film as this little piece about four groups of people, that faces a crisis, or many. In some ways a little like Short Cuts, but totally different, at the same time.There are a heap of lead characters, whom we all learn to know very well as their stories unfold, and they are, as persons show their good and their bad sides, their weaknesses and their strengths, with lots of drama and laughter.The closest equivalent in a US movie, I can think of, which then is far weaker in every respect, is the Royal Tenenbaums. Four Shades of Brown, as the title would be in English, tells the story about a stressed out hotelier and his wife, and his elderly parents (who are traveling magicians); about the receptionist at an animal crematory and his family misadventures; about the members of a cooking course (who mostly talk about their sorry lives) and fourthly about the funeral for a womanizing trotter jockey, who tries to continue orchestrating the family from beyond the grave, by singing and appearing in 3D during the funeral, thanks to high tech equipment that has cost his entire fortune (the family gets nil, not even the famous horse is given to the family)!There is a warmth and compassion in this film, that is filled with grief and laughter, that I've never experienced before.Most actors were new to me, except Robert Gustafsson and one or two more, but they all deserve the big slam the film took at the Swedish Guldbagge extravaganza (= the Swedish "Oscar" Awards) a week ago!Male, female and male supporting actor prizes went to this film, plus a few more, to boot!If you have the chance, go and see it - the hours float by very quickly!

This movie must be exported to the rest of the world! An absolute masterpiece, with a both bizarre and grim film about four different stories from four different locations in Sweden. The one with the newly renovated hotel with the improper wooden figure of an old finance minister is absolutely the best of the four, odd story about love or career. I would love to see all four as a film on their own they can be so much more extended. Also the unique pause in the middle is something I've never seen before.Can't wait for the series (if they're doing one) or the extended DVD. Apparently they had cut out a lot to fit it in to just 3,5 hours.