Happy End (1999)

Genres - Drama  |   Sub-Genres - Melodrama  |   Run Time - 98 min.  |   Countries - Sweden  |   MPAA Rating - NR
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Synopsis by Mark Deming

A young man and an elderly woman forge an unusual friendship in this Swedish drama. Aspiring rock musician Lukas (Stefan Norrthon) has no desire to work in father's auto shop, so when he finds out that his family has an apartment on Sweden's west coast, he heads out there to take advantage of the privacy and free rent. However, when he arrives, he discovers that the flat has been sublet to Marja (Harriet Andersson), a 69-year-old woman who has decided it's time to write her memoirs. Marja does not intend to share her home with a twentysomething guitar player, and Lukas tries to find a place to stay with two fellow rockers, Greger (Roberto Jelinek) and Bamse (Alexander Skarsgard), who are planning to head out for Germany. But when Marja's computer starts acting up, she makes Lukas an offer: he can stay with her in exchange for taking dictation. He reluctantly agrees, and he soon finds himself caught up in Marja's story of her troubled childhood and problematic relationship with her father. Leading lady Harriet Andersson was a veteran of several classic Ingmar Bergman films, while Alexander Skarsgard is the son of noted actor Stellan Skarsgard.