I remember seeing this film as a child, probably in 1986, and just loved it, and saw it again on video and still loved it, so when I realized their was a Criterion DVD I just had to pick it up. This is an amazing portrait of a young child whose mother is dyeing, and who really feels unwanted, but finding his place in the world as he discovers his own sexuality. And it doesn’t look down on the child, in fact we see the world through his eyes, which to me is a prerequisite for making a good Children’s film. Really a powerful and amazing film, that I think should be mandatory watching for everyone.

REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS…

In Sweden in the 1960’s we meet young Ingemar Johansson (an amazing performance here by the young Anton Glazelius). His mother (Anki Liden) is sick with some sort of consumptive lung disease, and spends all of her time in bed reading, not wanting to interact with her 2 sons, and so Ingemar has become a walking disaster area, getting his penis stuck in a bottle, and always making a mess or causing trouble. He narrates the film, and is always talking about situations that are worse like poor Leika the dog that was sent into space in a Sputnik only to starve to death. Ingemar gets in trouble with his young girlfriend and is going to run away with his dog, but ends up setting the whole scrap yard he is on fire, causing more trouble for his sick mom, so his brother is sent to their grandmother, their dog put in a “kennel” and Ingemar is sent from the city to a rural town with only a glassworks to live with his Uncle (Tomas von Br

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