Nordic Film Classics mette hjort and peter schepelern, Series Editors NordiC Film ClassiCs The Nordic Film Classics series offers in-depth studies of key films by Danish, Finnish, Icelandic, Norwegian, and Swedish directors. Written by emerging as well as established film scholars, and where possible in conversation with relevant film practitioners, these books help to shed light on the ways in which the Nordic nations and region have contrib- uted to the art of film. Ingmar Bergman’s “The Silence”: Pictures in the Typewriter, Writings on the Screen by Maaret Koskinen Dagur Kari’s “Nói the Albino” by Björn Norðfjörð Lone Scherfig’s “Italian for Beginners” by Mette Hjort Lukas Moody sson’s “Show Me Love” by Anna Westerståhl Stenport lukas moody sson’s Show Me Love anna Westerståhl stenport university of washington press Seattle museum tusculanum press Copenhagen This book was made possible by the generous support of the Campus Research Board of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Copyright © 2012 by the University of Washington Press Printed in the United States of America Design by Thomas Eykemans 16 15 14 13 12 17 5 4 3 2 1 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. Published in the United States by university of washington press po Box 50096, Seattle, wa 98145, usa www.washington.edu/uwpress Published in Europe by museum tusculanum press University of Copenhagen 126 Njalsgade, dk-2300 Copenhagen S, Denmark www.mtp.dk 978 87 635 3881 7 library of congress cataloging-in-publication data Stenport, Anna Westerståhl. Lukas Moody sson’s Show me love / Anna Westerståhl Stenport. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. Includes filmography. isbn 978-0-295-99180-1 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Show me love (Motion picture) 2. Moody sson, Lukas, 1969— Criticism and interpretation. I. Title. pn1997.s4782s74 2012 791.43’72—dc23 2011043712 The paper used in this publication is acid-free and 90 percent recycled from at least 50 percent post-consumer waste. It meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ansi z39.48–1984. Contents Acknowledgments vii 1. moody sson’s contexts 3 2. the ambivalence of show me love 28 3. the geography of show me love 86 4. moody sson’s continuation 123 Festival Screenings and Awards 138 Notes 142 Bibliography 179 Filmography 196 Index 201 acknowledgments Writing this book took me on journeys to unexpected places and led me to many wonderful people who graciously shared their time, knowledge, and resources with me. I am truly grateful to each and every one and to the funding agencies that made this journey and these meetings possible. Many practitioners in the Swedish and Nor- dic film industry have provided invaluable input—their participation has been an integral part of this project since its inception, as the bibliographic record of individuals interviewed at the end of the book shows. I am grateful to Lars Jönsson, Charlotta Denward, Bengt Toll, Mikael Timm, Ola Törjas, Rasmus Thord, Marit Kapla, Louise Martin, Ulrika Nisell, Tomas Eskilsson, Katarina Krave, Charlotte Appelgren, Jeanette Gentele, Ulf Brantås, and Josefin Åsberg. I also wish to thank director Lukas Moody sson for sharing his time so gen- erously with me. Many members of the academic community in North America and Scandinavia have provided supportive and productive criti- cism at different stages of the project. Thank you Andy Nestingen, Maaret Koskinen, Yvonne Leffler, Mariah Larsson, Olle Hedling, vii Jenny Björklund, Per Assmo, Roger Blomgren, Mikael Jonasson, Sarah Projansky, Bob Pahre, Anke Pinkert, Brett Ashley Kaplan, Jon Ebel, Mark Sandberg, Linda Rugg, and, of course, the Urbana Friday afternoon writing group: Ericka Beckman, Ellen Moodie, and Yase- min Yildiz. For helpful discussions and assistance with bibliographic matters, formatting, and copyediting, I thank research assistants Kurt Hollender, Lawrence Smith, Paul Hartley, and Jon Sherman. I also wish to thank Nordic Film Classics series editors Mette Hjort and Peter Schepelern for their invitation to contribute to the series and their, as well as that of an anonymous reviewer’s, extraordinarily helpful feedback. Working with the University of Washington Press staff and senior acquisitions editor Jacquie Ettinger has been a won- derful experience. Funding to initiate and complete this book and related research projects has been generously awarded from the following sources: University of Illinois Research Board, University of Illinois European Union Center, University of Illinois Center for International Busi- ness Education and Research, the American Scandinavian Founda- tion, the Barbro Osher Pro Suecia Foundation, the Swedish Institute, Helge Ax:son Johnson Foundation, and Åke Wiberg Foundation. Sections of chapters 1 and 3 first appeared in an essay titled “Local and Global: Lukas Moody sson and Swedish Film,” published in Swedish Film: An Introduction and a Reader, eds. Mariah Larsson and Anders Marklund (Nordic Academic Press, 2011: 325–333), and are reprinted with permission here. This book could not have been completed without the support of a number of people close to my heart who have helped in numerous ways, big and small, while I traveled to Sweden for interviews and to access material, and then returned home to write. Members of the Stenport and Westerståhl families have done what they do so well: viii acknowledgments show unwavering support; Olof and Ingegerd, in particular—thank you! This book is for my mother, and it comes with more gratitude than is possible to imagine. acknowledgments ix