GITARRMONGOT

Sweden, 2004, 89 minutes, Colour.
Directed by Ruben Ostlund.

The main reason for seeing this film is that it is one of the earliest films by now celebrated director, Ruben Ostlund.

This film is a rather meandering wander around a Swedish city, looking at a variety of people, seemingly at random although one of the links is a boy playing guitar who turns up frequently.

It is hard to describe the film so the note from the IMDb Is as useful as any: A 12 year old boy making basic punk songs, grown up men playing with guns, a neurotic woman with euphoric happiness targeting self-destruction. A Swedish everyday life you've never seen before.

For those who like narrative, there is nothing much to attract their attention.

For those who like films which are the equivalent of an art installation, a succession of moving images, episodes, with the attention on the photography, the artistic eye on the characters and their situations, then this film is more something of an experience.

As has been said, is the first feature of Ruben Ostlund who went on to make arresting films, often drawing on this “observational style�, Involuntary and his story of children, thieving and bullying in Gotherberg in Play. However, Ostlund was able to gather his visual interests and style with a narrative set in a ski resort with an avalanche, Force Majeure. He then went on to win the Palme d’Or in Cannes for The Square.