As It Is in Heaven

Film Review SAGF-1(This review was originally published in the Swedish American Geneologist, December, 2008)Så som i Himmelen (As It Is in Heaven), 2004, directed by Kay Pollak, DVD non-USA format, Swedish with English subtitles, Amazon.com $25.99 plus shipping.Almost unknown in the US, this beautiful and heartwarming film from Sweden has been described by critics as one of the best Swedish films made in recent years and has been nominated for several awards in Europe. It was recently shown at the American Swedish Historical Museum in Philadelphia after our annual Semlor gathering. I quickly rushed to find a copy for myself to share with others. Regrettably, I will have to try and convert it to US format, or find a European format DVD player, to show it other than at the Museum. So unlike the popular fare being churned out by Hollywood, the film deserves much wider acclaim in the US among all moviegoers, not just Swedish Americans.Taking place in a small village, Ljusåker, in the far northern province of Norrland, the story is about a small boy (Daniel Dareus) raised by a single mother, who has a talent for the violin but is bullied by local boys. He grows up to become a world-famous musician and conductor, driven by his talent and desire for perfection, to ill health and exhaustion. He returns alone to his little village to recover and rest, buying the now vacant old village schoolhouse to live in. The local people do not remember him as a child but know of his reputation as a conductor. Members of the small village church choir ask him to help them with their music, and he reluctantly agrees. His methods are unorthodox but the choir members come to love him. Others, including the Pastor, question his motives and methods.The story unfolds to reveal how he affects all those in the village not only in their music but also to grow in their personal lives. All Daniel (played by Michael Nyqvist) ever wanted to do in life was to help people find their own voice, and he is immensely successful in doing so. The Choir, the Church, and the village are all transformed as a result of his presence. It is the rare film that is so moving that it can give one a lump in the throat almost from beginning to end.Along the way, the Pastor has an epiphany, a battered wife gains confidence as a star soloist, a developmentally disabled boy is discovered to have a great bass voice, and many others face up to their talents and to the issues in their lives. And they create music to stir the heart and evoke God's grace in fraternity and mutual love. Especially moving is the song that Daniel writes for Gabriela (Gabriela's song), in which she gains confidence over her fears to sing in a Village concert. (Gabriela is played by Helen Sjöholm, who was the voice of Kristina in the Opera, Kristina fran Duvemåla). Other fine Swedish singers including Frida Hallgren, Andre Sjöberg, Ingela Olsson, and Lennart Jähkel, who perform as members of the choir. You will also hear other familiar songs beautifully sung, including "Amazing Grace" sung in English, and "Beautiful Saviour", sung wonderfully in Swedish.Try and find a way to see this memorable film. If you do not know Swedish, the subtitles will let you enjoy the film just as well. You will also see splendid photography of the village and the landscape in Norrland and a glimpse of village life in Sweden in modern times. As is common in Swedish films there are a few minor nude scenes, but not lascivious or offensive and certainly acceptable for teenagers and up. The Swedish habit of always portraying the clergy as flawed and hypocritical is also present in this film, but the overriding story of the power of love and grace in people's lives more than makes up for this Pastor's human failing.Dennis L. JohnsonFebruary 2009

I’m very aware that I’m far from the target audience for this film, yet the writer in me indirectly influenced my interest in this film. Additionally, seeing one of the locations (Austria)pertaining to the movie plots of this film got my husband and I talking about the location as he has family members on his mother’s side who live in Austria. Additionally,I admit that I more or less decided to check out the film As It Is in Heaven because it was listed to be one of the films that Michael Nyqvist starred in as music conductor Daniel Dareus. The character of Daniel Dareus has a very difficult childhood before going on to achieve much music accomplishments. After coming close to death, Daniel Dareus ends up moving back to a small town in Sweden where he grew up and meeting church pastor Stig (Niklas Falk) . His life is changed even further when he is invited to help other various church members with their choir singing Lena (Frida Hallgren), Inger (Ingela Olsson), Arne (Lennart Jahkel), Siv (Ylva Loof), Gabriela (Helen Sjoholm). The lives of some of the church members are very dramatic to say the least . The character of Holmfridd (Mikhael Rahm) has to endure unnecessary taunting from fellow church goer Arne over his weight. Inger is married to Stig,loves him a lot, and she bravely confronts him about some of the vices he has as more of a loving way to try to help him see that he is harder on himself than necessary. Gabriela enjoys participating in the church choir but has to go through so much just to be able to do this because of the dynamics with her husband Connie (Per Morberg). Arne has a relative named Tore (Andre Sjoberg) who shows interest in joining the choir group one day and some of the other members are reluctant to accept him until Daniel helps convince them to allow Tore to join. Lena is the character in the group with a heart of gold who treats other people in a considerate manner yet she also has to endure much judgement from Siv who like Stig is harsher on herself than she has to be.

If you can deal with subtitles this is really a great flick. I live the lead character. Its a great story line. Its very real in how people are. I like getting a birds eye view of other cultures. There is only 2 scenes that are a little risque but tolerable. And only one problem I had with the "theology" of the pastors wife. But other than that its a great movie. Very real.

If this movie doesn't touch you, doesn't speak to you at all - well, you should see a shrink, as you are likely to be unhappy and emotionally stiff.This story is not for analyzing but for breaking the analytical, stubborn mind and cutting through its cold, deceptive intellectualism to the center of one's being - Love.Dry, analytical words are of no value. They can give the ego a sense of superiority but deprive one from experiencing beauty and joy.It would be nice if one could let go of one's stupid intellectualism and dive into the sea of the Heart.This is what this movie is about. It is not about analysing and about being philosophical, it is about shifting from living as a thinking being (i.e. being dead) to living as a listening being, where the abundance of Love is.When we listen to classical music which overwhelms us we don't sit there analysing the notes or the rhythm or the age when it was written (well, normal people don't). We surrender to it. This movie is about surrender of that which keeps us away from happiness, it is about letting go of the cold intellect and waking up to Life.Seeing this movie is like hearing a symphony that leaves you both empty and full. Empty of misery and full of what is beyond words and thoughts.

Lovely film, so sweet, where the characters are believable and look like people you might meet instead of Hollywood actors who can walk out of a model's go see and every character is beautiful except the character actors. I cannot imagine anyone not enjoying it. Definitely recommend.

E' stato un falso acquisto, perchè pensavo fosse in italiano. Comunque ho apprezzato tantissimo le modalità con cui ho potuto restituire il predotto. Vorrei dire che il film merita di essere capito. E avendolo già visto, posso dire che è uno dei film più belli che io abbia visto. Grazie.

I ordered this out of curiosity because I liked the Swedish actor Michael Nyqvist from the Millenium trilogy, and it was even better than I expected. Moving story and great music.

ZUM FILM:"Schon als kleiner Junge träumte ich davon, eine Musik zu machen, die die Herzen der Menschen öffnet.", hört man den jungen Daniel sagen. Und das scheint er geschafft zu haben. Zumindest in dem Maße, dass er ein gefragter Dirigent und sein Terminkalender auf sechs Jahre hin ausgebucht ist. Bis auf einmal von einem Tag auf den anderen sich alles ändert: "Ihr Herz ist völlig erschöpft.", lautet die Diagnose, durch die er sein Leben völlig umkrempelt. "Das erste Mal in meinem Leben war mein Terminkalender leer." - etwas völlig Neues für Daniel. Zeit für eine deutliche Veränderung: "Manchmal tut man Dinge, die man sich selbst nicht erklären kann." Daniel geht zurück in seinen Geburtsort und kauft die alte Schule dort. Die neugierigen Dorfbewohner versuchen ihn, ins Dorfleben und in den kleinen Kirchenchor zu integrieren, doch Daniel verschließt sich.Die Stimme und der unkomplizierte Kontakt der jungen Lena bringen ihn schließlich zur Musik zurück und in seinen neuen "Job" als Kantor der Kirche. "Jeder Mensch hat seinen eigenen, einzigartigen Ton." Diesen versucht Daniel aus seinen neuen Chormitgliedern heraus zu bekommen, die so bunt zusammen gesetzt sind wie das Leben: das Mädchen, das wegen ihrer wechselnden Partner schon etwas kritisch im Ort beäugt wird, die Frau, die von ihrem Mann verprügelt wird, der herrschsüchtige Mann, der alle tyrannisiert und auch der in seiner eigenen Welt lebende, behinderte Junge, der dennoch über die Musik seinen Platz im Chor findet. Die Musik bringt sie alle näher zu sich selbst, aber auch näher zusammen, die ehrlichen Töne lassen sie - manchmal auch schonungslos - ehrlich zueinander werden und schweißen sie zu einer neuen Gemeinschaft zusammen. Dass Daniel dabei unkonventionelle Methoden anwendet und nach mancher Ansicht gar "die Sünde ins Gemeindehaus einzieht", stößt nicht überall im Ort auf Gegenliebe und führt letztlich auch zu Konsequenzen.Scheu, sensibel und ein bisschen eigenwillig, "typisch Künstler" eben, so kommt Daniel in dem kleinen Ort an und wird ein Teil davon. Mit Hilfe der jungen Lena entdeckt er auch neue Seiten und Gefühle an sich, die beiden fühlen sich zueinander hingezogen. Am Ende kann er - glücklich - sagen, dass sich mit diesen Menschen erfüllt hat, wovon er immer geträumt hat: "Sie lieben mich und ich liebe sie." und sich mit dem kleinen Jungen in sich versöhnen. Ein breiter Klangteppich, der die Menschen auf eine zauberhafte Art und Weise über Grenzen hinweg verbindet und trägt, hilft ihm bei diesen letzten Schritten...Zweifelsohne sind es sehr skurrile Charaktere, die da aufeinander treffen. Anfangs verwirrte mich dies ein wenig, aber im Laufe des Films lernt man sie in ihren Eigenarten zu akzeptieren und lieben.Ein wirklich vielschichtiger Film um menschliche Beziehungen, den Umgang miteinander, die Liebe und auch theologische Fragen im Umfeld der Kirchengemeinde und durch die Frau des Pfarrers transportiert ("Gott vergibt uns nicht, weil er uns gar nicht erst verdammt."). Teilweise verstörend, aber immer berührend. Kein Film, den man beim ersten Sehen vollständig erfassen kann.Bedauerlich finde ich, dass man den Liedtext von Gabriellas Lied mit dem Chor nicht versteht, wenn man nicht des Schwedischen mächtig ist. Es ist ein wundervolles Lied, das auch so die Seele berührt, aber der Text (den ich mir im Nachhinein in der Übersetzung gesucht habe) hat hier natürlich auch noch einmal eine Bedeutung. Insbesondere dieses Lied hat mich gefangen genommen, aber auch die andere Musik im Film ist einfach nur toll und stimmungsvoll und rundet das Gesamtkunstwerk perfekt ab.ZUR DVD:Die Lautstärken der DVD sind sehr unterschiedlich. Während die Dialoge oft sehr leise sind, sind insbesondere die Musikteile oft viel zu laut. Das ist etwas unausgewogen.Die Einzelkapitel-Auswahl im Menü ist für meinen Geschmack zu unübersichtlich Die Menüführung ist zwar nett gemacht mit den Noten, aber es lässt sich etwas schwer erkennen, welche Funktion oder welches Kapitel nun angewählt ist.Zusatzfeatures gibt es auf dieser DVD neben den Untertitel, Szenen- und Sprachwahl gar keine.Hier darf man also auch nicht zu viel erwarten.Dennoch für den tollen Film volle Sternenzahl!! Ansehen!

This is one of the best films I have ever seen. It's a real pity it hasn't been widely circulated in Europe (and not at all in my country, Italy).Watching it is a spiritual journey. I was moved by the protagonist's quest to find and arouse the individual note in each person singing in his choir, and to compose a piece of music which would open the hearts. I know people who went back to the cinema for 8 nights in a row, when it opened in Germany, and it has become a cult movie in New Zealand and Australia.The cold Swedish landscape is a wonderful counterpoint to the heartwarming experience of watching damaged human beings bloom into ripeness through the healing power of love and singing.