UD is not the first to notice something strange and soothing about the simple singsong flow of the Swedish accent.
She has lately, under plague conditions, also noticed that long sessions of Swedish (a language totally unknown to her) piped into her ear on clear quiet self-isolated evenings while she lies abed generate calm, and even occasional flashes of Bergmanian life wisdom…
The film she streams the most, however, isn’t one of his — it’s The Emigrants, which not only features infinite accent (the movie is interminable), but also, when you open your eyes and take a look at a scene, offers either Liv Ullmann’s childlike passive Swedish peasant eyes, or Max Von Sydow’s horse-heavy plough hopelessly working its way around boulders. Pure Ambien.
April 11th, 2020 at 11:57AM
I always enjoy watching the classic The Dove (De Düva), linked here: https://youtu.be/L1TlAd6M-xU in which Inga has a particularly nice command of the accent.
April 11th, 2020 at 12:32PM
A timely reminder, Polish Peter. Just last night I was sampling Wild Strawberries, so the inspiration for The Dove was fresh in my mind… Thank you for the link!
April 11th, 2020 at 1:49PM
I’m partial to the raw grittiness of “The Immigrants”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GE9AQhfz2fM
April 11th, 2020 at 4:42PM
Ravi: Hadn’t seen the Lampoon’s take on all this history – many thanks for the link. The abundance of diverse accents is head-spinning!
April 11th, 2020 at 9:06PM
I remember watching The Emigrants at the Baronet Theater in Bethesda when it came out. I vividly remember the grossest scenes of course. The throw up from the upper bunk on the ship sliding down the side of the wall next to a young emigrant boy below it, Liv Ullmann wiping her baby’s bare butt with a leaf as they walked along, the little girl dying with her stomach stretched out from eating all the uncooked rice and the ultimate scene when Liv beckons her husband to her bed although it will ultimately kill her. Haven’t seen that movie since it came out and it sure left a lasting impression on me as a 12 year old.
April 11th, 2020 at 10:53PM
Absolutely. Same here. I remembered tons from having watched it once in 1971. Exactly the same gross stuff.