This film was written up in the Vancouver International Film Festival guide as the first feature by a Swedish comedy troupe, and I mistakenly concluded it would be funny. Four stories unfold simultaneously: a wealthy, amoral, and spiteful patriarch dies, but continues to harm from beyond the grave with the nastiness generated by his will. A young couple has lovingly restored an old seaside resort, and operate it successfully until his parents, accompanied by his mother's lover, drop in for a visit. A man, a pet crematorium employee, takes his son to his place of work to revive the kid's waning interest in school. A cooking class of four and their teacher meet weekly, but do absolutely no cooking. Instead their weekly meetings turn into impromptu therapy sessions. Each of these stories took extremely dark turns to horrific conclusions. Well made, I suppose, but I was thoroughly traumatized. My knowledgeable friends assured me that this was Swedish humor at its best, and that the film guide did not misrepresent this light-hearted frothy confection. Strangely, I do not find child rape, incest, murder, suicide, stealing one's son's girlfriend, psychological torture, and random violence funny. Silly me.
Review of Fyra nyanser av brunt
