My Life as a Dog

My Life as a Dog
Film poster
Directed by	Lasse Hallström
Produced by	Waldemar Bergendahl
Written by	Lasse Hallström Reidar Jönsson (novel) Brasse Brännström Per Berglund
Based on	Mitt liv som hund by Reidar Jönsson
Starring	Anton Glanzelius Tomas von Brömssen
Music by	Björn Isfält
Cinematography	Jörgen Persson
Editing by	Christer Furubrand Susanne Linnman
Distributed by	AB Svensk Filmindustri
Release date(s)	December 12, 1985 (1985-12-12) (Sweden) March 24, 1987 (1987-03-24) (United States)
Running time	101 minutes
Country	Sweden
Language	Swedish
Box office	$8,345,266 (North America)[1]

My Life as a Dog (Swedish: Mitt liv som hund) is a 1985 Swedish drama film directed by Lasse Hallström, based on a novel by Reidar Jönsson. It tells the story of Ingemar, a young boy sent to live with relatives. The cast includes Anton Glanzelius, Melinda Kinnaman and Tomas von Brömssen.

Plot

Troubled 12-year-old Ingemar (Anton Glanzelius) gets into all sorts of trouble, which drives his mother (Anki Lidén) crazy; Ingemar does not know that his mother is in fact terminally ill. When he and his older brother become too much for her, they are split up and sent to live with relatives. Ingemar ends up with his maternal uncle Gunnar (von Brömssen) and his wife Ulla (Kicki Rundgren) in a small rural town in Småland. Gunnar and Ingemar bond over Povel Ramel's recording of "Far, jag kan inte få upp min kokosnöt".

In the town he encounters a variety of characters. Saga (Kinnaman), an assertive tomboy his own age, likes him, and shows it by beating him up in a boxing match. Among the more eccentric residents is Fransson (Magnus Rask), a man who continually fixes the roof of his house, and Mr. Arvidsson (Didrik Gustavsson), an old man living downstairs who gets Ingemar to read to him from a lingerie catalog.

Later, Ingemar is reunited with his family, but his mother soon takes a turn for the worse and is hospitalized. He and his brother go to stay with their uncle Sandberg (Leif Ericson) in the city, but his wife thinks the boy is crazy. After his mother passes away, he is sent back to Småland.

Mr. Arvidsson has died in the interim; Gunnar and Ulla now share the house with a large Greek family. Gunnar welcomes him and consoles him as best he can, but the house is so crowded, he has Ingemar live with Mrs. Arvidsson in another house. Meanwhile, Ingemar becomes the object of contention between Saga and another girl. When they start fighting over him, he grabs onto Saga's leg and starts barking like a dog. She becomes upset by his strange behavior and gets him into the boxing ring. During the bout, out of spite, she tells him that his beloved dog (which he had thought was in a kennel) was actually euthanized. This, along with his mother's death, is too much for him and he locks himself inside Gunnar's one-room "summer house" in the backyard. The time spent here forces Ingemar to reflect on the death of his mother, the loss of his dog and a changing world. Ingemar uses the experiences of others and of his own personal loss to reconcile a life which is sometimes tough.

Throughout the film, Ingemar tells himself over and over that it could have been worse, reciting several examples, such as a man who took a shortcut onto the field during a track meet and was killed by a javelin and the story of the dog Laika several times, the first creature sent into orbit by the Russians (without any way to get her back down).

The film ends with the radio broadcast of a famous heavyweight championship boxing match, between Swede Ingemar Johansson and American Floyd Patterson. When Johansson wins, the whole town erupts with joy, but the now-reconciled Ingemar and Saga are fast asleep together on a couch.

Cast

• Anton Glanzelius as Ingemar
• Tomas von Brömssen as Uncle Gunnar
• Anki Lidén as Ingemar's mother
• Melinda Kinnaman as Saga
• Kicki Rundgrenmoster as Ulla
• Lennart Hjulström as The artist
• Ing-Marie Carlsson as Berit
• Leif Ericson as Uncle Sandberg
• Christina Carlwind as Mrs. Sandberg
• Ralph Carlsson as Harry
• Viveca Dahlén as Washing woman
• Arnold Alfredsson as Manne's grandfather
• Fritz Elofsson as Master
• Didrik Gustavsson as Arvidsson, a dying old man befriended by Ingemar
• Jan-Philip Hollström as Manne, the boy with green hair

Reception

The movie received mostly positive reviews, with Rotten Tomatoes giving it an average of 7.9/10. 100% of the critics at Rotten Tomatoes have given the film a positive review based on 28 reviews.

Awards

The film was nominated for two Academy Awards: Best Director and Best Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium. It won the Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 1988.

Award	Category	Name	Outcome
60th Academy Awards	Best Director	Lasse Hallström	Nominated
	Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium	Lasse Hallström, Reidar Jönsson, Brasse Brännström, Per Berglund	Nominated
BAFTA Awards	Best Foreign Language Film	Waldemar Bergendahl, Lasse Hallström	Nominated
Bodil Awards	Best European Film	Lasse Hallström	Won
Boston Society of Film Critics Awards	Best Foreign Language Film		Won
Directors Guild of America	Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures	Lasse Hallström	Nominated
45th Golden Globe Awards	Best Foreign Language Film		Won
Independent Spirit Awards	Best Foreign Film	Lasse Hallström	Won
Lucas - International Festival of Films for Children and Young People	Children's Section	Lasse Hallström	Won
New York Film Critics Circle Awards	Best Foreign Language Film		Won
Robert Festival	Best Foreign Film	Lasse Hallström	Won
Seattle International Film Festival	Best Film		Won
Young Artist Awards	Special Award - Best Family Foreign Film		Won
	Special Award - Best Young Actor in a Foreign Film	Anton Glanzelius	Won
	Special Award - Best Young Actress in a Foreign Film	Melinda Kinnaman	Won

References

1. ^ "My Life as a Dog (1987)". Box Office Mojo. Internet Movie Database. http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=mylifeasadog.htm. Retrieved December 11, 2010. 

External links

• My Life As a Dog at the Internet Movie Database
• My Life As a Dog at AllRovi
• My Life as a Dog at Box Office Mojo
• Criterion Collection essay by Michael Atkinson