Everlasting Moments

Released Mar 6, 2009

2h 11m

Drama

List

90%

105 Reviews

Tomatometer

84%

2,500+ Ratings

Audience Score

In Sweden in the early 1900s, "Everlasting Moments" chronicles the life of Maria Lawson (Maria Heiskanen), an immigrant from Finland who uses a camera she wins in a lottery to document her life. Maria works with her camera to support her children while tolerating frequent abuse from Sigfrid (Mikael Persbrandt), her womanizing and alcoholic husband. Maria's daughter Maja, who vividly presents her mother's strength and dignity in the face of considerable hardship, narrates the film.

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Critics Consensus

Elegant and intimate, Everlasting Moments moves at the deliberate and gentle pace of a classical European period drama.

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Georgan G

A delightful picture about class, social change, family, art & maybe love. The acting is terrific and this Swedish drama keeps you interested. Nothing bad to say about about it, at all.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

10/01/23

Full Review

Audience Member

A sensitive, moving portrait of a hard life. Fittingly, and perhaps intentionally considering its subject, the tint and texture of this film evoke a kind of distant nostalgia and sadness that you only get when you look at old photographs

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/11/23

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Audience Member

A beautifully told story. Love, love, love!

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

08/07/18

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Audience Member

Jan Troell, the masterful Swedish filmmaker who writes, photographs, directs, and edits his pictures, completed this exquisite, intimate family saga at the age of 77. The story is based on the life of Maria Larson, the great aunt of Troell's wife, a working-class mother in early 1900s Sweden, who wins a camera in a lottery and develops into a photographer. Narrated by Larson's oldest daughter, Maja, this drama chronicles the hardships and joys for this impoverished Swedish family over the course of ten years. Maria Heiskanen as Maria Larson is willful, resourceful, and delicate. Her husband, a laborer, is a drunkard and brute yet Maria's unwavering love and support for him is portrayed with frankness. A local photographer spots Maria's talent and encourages her in her artistic pursuit. Their relationship has a wistful tenderness that resonates deeply. Troell has a graceful simplicity that shames most contemporary filmmakers. There are lyrical, funny sequences that linger: Maria photographing a young girl in repose with her children's horseplay seen through a glass window; the family playacting after viewing a Charlie Chaplin movie. This is a wonderful evocation of the past without mythologizing or editorializing. Agneta Ulfsater-Troell co-wrote the screenplay with her husband and Nikolas Radstrom.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

02/23/23

Full Review

Audience Member

This is a movie rooted in excellent performances, subtle visual metaphors and a lovely soundtrack. So worth seeing for all of these reasons. It's also depressing as bleep, so be sure to be prepared to feel like crap after watching it, especially armed with the knowledge that it's based on a true story.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/03/23

Full Review

Audience Member

This is one of the most beautiful Swedish movies I have ever seen like "Saraband". "Not every one could see and hear like few gifted people". This is the story of a lady who happened to discover her true passion and identity by accident which is photography. Photography lovers will cherish this movie. There are lot of other issues are going on this film like capitalism and socialism, domestic abuse, alcohol abuse, illicit romance, prostitution..you name it. Don't miss it.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

02/05/23

Full Review

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Jan Troell

Director

Maria Heiskanen

Maria Larsson

Mikael Persbrandt

Sigfrid Larsson

Jesper Christensen

Sebastian Pedersen

Emil Jensen

Englund

Ghita Nørby

Miss Fagerdal

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Deborah Ross

The Spectator

One of those films in which nothing very much happens, but is full of character and incident all the same. It's a life - just a life - but Maria is so empathetic and portrayed with such love that we are as immersed in that life as she is.

Aug 29, 2018

Full Review

Philippa Hawker

The Age (Australia)

Feels a little repetitive and predictable in its depiction of the ordinary and the domestic. But there's something stubborn and gritty about Heiskanen's performance.

Rated: 3/5

Aug 11, 2010

Full Review

Stephen Cole

Globe and Mail

What makes the photographer's story so compelling is that her life's work actually does come alive onscreen.

Rated: 3/4

Jun 12, 2009

Full Review

Felicia Feaster

Charleston City Paper

Where the film is most satisfying is in an artfulness that operates beyond words.

Jan 27, 2020

Full Review

Brandy McDonnell

The Oklahoman

Excellent performances, canny cinematography and Troell's steady direction make Everlasting Moments worth experiencing.

Rated: 3.5/4

Aug 8, 2018

Full Review

Martha Polk

MUBI

Maria's interactions with film remind us of the most basic echelons of the filmic miracle-the miracles of reflection, projection, of light and seeing-and invite us into the excitement they hold.

Dec 13, 2017

Full Review

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Synopsis

In Sweden in the early 1900s, "Everlasting Moments" chronicles the life of Maria Lawson (Maria Heiskanen), an immigrant from Finland who uses a camera she wins in a lottery to document her life. Maria works with her camera to support her children while tolerating frequent abuse from Sigfrid (Mikael Persbrandt), her womanizing and alcoholic husband. Maria's daughter Maja, who vividly presents her mother's strength and dignity in the face of considerable hardship, narrates the film.

Director: Jan Troell
Screenwriter: Niklas Rådström, Jan Troell, Agneta Ulfsäter-Troell
Distributor: IFC Films
Production Co: Final Cut Productions
Genre: Drama
Original Language: Finnish
Release Date (Theaters): Mar 6, 2009, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Mar 13, 2017
Box Office (Gross USA): $606.1K
Runtime: 2h 11m