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Everlasting Moments

Generally favorable reviews
Based on 24 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 4 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie >
Movie Info
Genre(s): Drama
Written by:
Jan Troell (story)
Niklas Rådström
Directed by: Jan Troell
Release Date:
Theatrical: March 6, 2009
Running Time: 131 minutes, Color
Origin: Denmark | Finland | Norway | Sweden | Germany
Language(s): Swedish | Finnish
Summary
RATING: Not Rated
Starring Mikael Persbrandt, Maria Heiskanen, Jesper Christensen, Callin Ohrvall, Ghita Norby, Amanda Ooms, and Emil Jensen
Sweden, early 1900s. In a time of social change and unrest, war and poverty, a young working class woman, Maria, wins a camera in a lottery. The decision to keep it alters her whole life. The camera grants Maria new eyes with which to see the world, and brings the charming photographer "Piff Paff Puff" into her life. Trouble ensues when Maria's alcoholic, womanizing husband, feels threatened by the young man and his wife's newfound outlook on life. (IFC Films)
Also On The Web: Internet Movie Database
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
Christian Science Monitor Peter Rainer
Troell, at 78, continues to turn out films that will last for as long as there are movies. No wonder he feels such a deep connection to Maria in Everlasting Moments. The film is one hero's salute to another.
Read Full Review >Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert
It is a great story of love and hope, told tenderly and without any great striving for effect.
Read Full Review >Philadelphia Inquirer Carrie Rickey
A movie like Everlasting Moments comes along maybe once in a decade.
Read Full Review >Seattle Post-Intelligencer Bill White
Everlasting Moments both is a tribute to Larsson -- a relative of the director's wife, Jan (author of the original story) -- and a love letter to the art of photography.
Read Full Review >Variety Todd McCarthy
Artistically on a plane with or near the vet filmmaker's best work, this period drama about a woman slowly discovering her metier is an artisanal creation par excellence.
Read Full Review >Wall Street Journal Joe Morgenstern
This exquisite film by the Swedish master Jan Troell is about seeing clearly, and fearlessly. It's also about subdued passion, the birth of an artist and a woman's struggle to live her own life.
Read Full Review >New York Magazine David Edelstein
Troell’s entrancingly beautiful Everlasting Moments uses surfaces--light, texture, faces--to hint at another world, a shadow realm.
Read Full Review >Boston Globe Ty Burr
Quiet, observant, and intensely moving whenever Heiskanen is on screen, and it has a valedictory sweep that feels like a summing up.
Read Full Review >The New York Times A.O. Scott
The result is an experience that, even as it feels a bit familiar, is nonetheless engrossing and satisfying.
Read Full Review >The Hollywood Reporter Michael Rechtshaffen
An affecting film that manages to find glimmers of beauty in the encroaching bleakness, and coaxing richly dimensional performances which, like Maria's photographs, transcend the conventionally black and white.
Read Full Review >Austin Chronicle Marjorie Baumgarten
Leisurely unfolding, much like a fat novel, this turn-of-the-century Swedish drama has a warm, enveloping feel. It's flawlessly steeped in early 20th century atmosphere, costumes, and culture, but a gripping page-turner this family saga is not.
Read Full Review >New York Post Staff (Not credited)
Heiskanen is a revelation as the put-upon wife, and the cinematography (some by Troell) effortlessly transports us back 100 years.
Read Full Review >TV Guide Nathan Southern
On a narrative level, Troell seems to occasionally take on more than he can handle; from time to time he leans toward an ensemble approach, with multiple, intersecting stories, but the film lacks the length to sustain this, so we are left with fragments of substories that never fully blossom.
Read Full Review >Chicago Tribune Michael Phillips
There is a good deal of honest charm in this story, and in the three principal performances.
Read Full Review >Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman
All staged as a harsh poem of survival, with no great psychological interest, yet the ending carries a surprise feminist tug that’s worth the wait.
Read Full Review >ReelViews James Berardinelli
There's something old-fashioned about Everlasting Moments. Although the shots are beautifully composed, they are classically represented. Both the filmmaking methods and the storytelling are uncomplicated.
Read Full Review >The Onion (A.V. Club) Tasha Robinson
Heiskanen plays her layers beautifully, alternately revealing a talented artist stymied by poverty and marital problems, and a woman fiercely devoted to family first.
Read Full Review >Chicago Reader Andrea Gronvall
In the films of Swedish director Jan Troell (The Emigrants, The New Land), ordinary lives assume epic dimensions, and this drama, based on the experiences of his wife's protofeminist grandmother, doesn't sugarcoat the hardships of the early 1900s.
Read Full Review >Washington Post Desson Thomson
There's another satisfying benefit to Everlasting Moments. It's gloriously absent of the hyper-speed anxiety that passes for storytelling on our multiplex screens.
Read Full Review >Empire Anna Smith
Superficially interesting in many ways but this doesn't really engage on a deeper level.
Read Full Review >New York Daily News Joe Neumaier
This unhurried, novelistic movie is worth looking into.
Read Full Review >Village Voice Ella Taylor
The movie satisfies for an hour, but never quite persuades that its subject is worth two.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this movie is 7.7 (out of 10) based on 4 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Jay H. gave it an8:
A hauntingly beautiful film, the cinematography is magnificent, the attention to detail is amazing, particularly period detail. Wonderfully acted by all, Maria Heiskanen stands out though. Superb art direction. Jan Troell does an amazing job directing.
