Family

Autumn Sonata
Originally uploaded by Jonathan Lawson

Some months back me and my good friend started a film club consisting of two members with a goal to watch all the main films of Ingmar Bergman. As he had already seen Wild Strawberries, we opened the club with Autumn Sonata. I was blown away by Bergman´s talent for capturing the Nordic mindset. Ingrid Bergman and Liv Ullman are amazing in showing how tense Nordic family relations often are and how alcohol brings the emotions on the surface. I was deeply moved, my friend rather amazed. The Danish film Festen owes a lot to Bergman.

The news about Ingmar Bergman passing away today brought Autumn Sonata back into my mind. All his films I have seen are rather challenging and intimate captions of how we in the North deal with each other. They also show some of the reasons for the way we escape reality through alcohol.

As I opened my email today, I saw emails from both my Mom and Dad. Once again - and linking to Bergman´s Autumn Sonata - I realised how fortunate I am to have a family like mine. Their emails really made me emotional. Even if I am celebrating my birthday far away from the people most dearest to me, they still are there. Today´s phone discussions with my parents and my siblings really made my day.

When one reaches thirty, there is often a pressure to do a personal evaluation talk. There is this great piece of lyrics in Baz Luhrmann´s song Everybody´s Free:"Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography and lifestyle because the older you get, the more you need the people you knew when you were young."