Roy Anderson is one of the absolute best directors of Sweden along side Bergman. He proves that in this perfect movie. A Swedish Love Story is my all time favorite Swedish movie, and not just because 99 % of the Swedish movies are complete garbage.This film gives a honest view of the teenage-love compared to the adult-love. Where the youth love is almost problem free, where the teenagers have communications-issues and the adults have problems that they are some what stuck in their relationship.. Roy creates a beautiful contrast there. Another thing that is very nicely captured are the class differences between Pär and Annika's family's. The dialog in the movie is also very simple and are likely to happen in real life. And at last the music, the perfect music in this film, and for that we will have to thank Björn Isfeldt! It is a shame that this film haven't got more attention like Bergmans movies.

I had seen Roy Andersson's latest film "Sånger från andra våningen" (2000) before I saw this. Both were highly acclaimed in Sweden. I had expected quite a different film this time; after all, it was a love story, and since the director were younger when he made "En kärlekshistoria" I thought it would be somewhat more easygoing. That wasn't at all the case.There are several similarities between the two. There is a main plot about a 15 year old boy, working as a car mechanic assistant, who falls in love with an even younger girl. But that isn't the only thing this movie is about. Rather, it seems like Andersson shows a pessimistic view of the general problems of love in our society; lonely people, couples that quarrel, marriages that break up. Similar to his later film, it is shot slowly and very beautifully, and with a dominant depressive mood floating over it. This particularly depressive feeling which I dare to refer to as a mood characteristic of the whole Swedish society. The conversations are also very Swedish. It could be seen as criticism of the society; or just a twisted documentation of it with black humour (probably more plausible).I couldn't stand that the topic of love was described in this way. Love is the highest source of happiness. This film is completely without exaltation. Again; very Swedish.3/5.

This film is a mess. Not only is the central puppy love story not very interesting, but plot point after plot point is left hanging. There is an aging aunt, for example, who is slapped at a dinner party and at another point is dragged by someone into a car. None of this activity is set up or explained to us. What really caused the problems between the parents of the young girl in the film? This is never explained. The film goes from being a story of deepening love between two adolescents to a story of quirky screwed up adults in the end. The filmmaker is obviously at this point in his young career out of his league. I saw this at the National Gallery of Art so I guess some people must see the benefits of viewing this film but I can not for the life of me see any reason to mount this film in any film festival.There are some hints of the wonderful quirky satirical stuff we see later in his film, Songs from The Second Floor, which is brilliant, but this first effort is not worth viewing. Skip it at all costs.

This is not really a teenager-movie, although some would describe it as such. The main story is about two teenagers falling in love, correct, but that is only the shell. The story inside the shell is the one of the parents with their lost dreams and locked positions. The imagery is truly beautiful(the famous Serojoska-scene stands out) and the film also features Björn Isfält`s first venture into composing for the movies. Den Vackre and The Bertil Theme are particularly beautiful. Sadly this film, Roy Anderssons in my opinion finest one, is not available on video.