Something must break

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Movie
German title Something must break
Original title Nånting måste gå sönder
Country of production Sweden
original language Swedish
Publishing year 2014
length 85 minutes
Age rating FSK 16
Rod
Director Ester Martin Bergsmark
script Eli Levén ,
Ester Martin Bergsmark
production Anna-Maria Kantarius
camera Lisabi Fridell ,
Minka Jakerson
cut Marlene Billie Andreasen ,
Ester Martin Bergsmark,
Andreas Nilsson ,
Hanna Storby
occupation

Something Must Break (Original title: Nånting måste gå sönder ) is a Swedish fiction film directed by Ester Martin Bergsmark from 2014. The transgender drama won a number of festival prizes , and the lead actress was awarded the Guldbagge Prize.

action

The androgynous Sebastian lives with the lesbian Lea in a shared flat in Stockholm. During the day he works in a warehouse, at night he seeks sexual adventures with men and tries to escape reality through drugs. He chose the name Ellie for his feminine side . Again and again he plays with thoughts of suicide . One day when he is attacked in a public toilet, he finds help from Andreas who happens to be passing by. Sebastian soon meets Andreas again at a party, walks with him through the city and finally stays with him. The two get closer and closer and, on Sebastian's initiative, also have sex. Together they rob a suitor and go for a naked swim in a secluded lake, with an intense kiss.

One morning, however, Andreas keeps his distance again and emphasizes that he is not gay. Sebastian reacts to the rejection with renewed sexual adventures and a further turn to his identity as Ellie . He spies on Andreas and introduces himself to his friends without being asked, including Mattias, who recognizes the special relationship between the boys, but Sebastian also makes advances himself. Sebastian Andreas then stays away until one day he returns to him himself. Sebastian now reveals to him his identity as Ellie. Andreas agrees immediately, equips him / her with a handbag and dress and is already planning a shared apartment. But after a period of happiness, Andreas's conflict with regard to his sexuality resurfaces. When he suggests Sebastian to undergo gender reassignment surgery, the latter calls him a "coward" and looks for happiness, now finally as Ellie, in darkrooms again .

Reluctantly, Ellie goes to a karaoke party with Mattias 'brother at Andreas' suggestion, but gets angry and leaves her again soon. Andreas, who follows her first, rejects her with the words "I will never forget you". In the final scene, Ellie sits lonely on a hill on the outskirts; a passer-by manages to cheer her up when she mentions the fact that the hill is actually a mountain of rubbish.

background

Director Bergsmark

The film is based on the book Du är rötterna som sover vid mina fötter och håller jorden på plats ("You are the roots that sleep under my feet and hold the earth together") by the transgender activist Eli Levéns from 2010. Levéns participated himself on the script. For transgender director Bergsmark this is the second collaboration with Levéns after the docudrama She Male Snails (Pojktanten) in 2012. Bergsmark's work is rooted in the sex positive feminism movement in Sweden. The film was produced with the support of the Swedish Film Institute . The film title Something Must Break is derived from the Joy Division song of the same name ; the original Swedish title is a literal translation.

Premieres

The film premiered on January 24, 2014 at the Gothenburg International Film Festival , followed by the Swedish cinema premiere on March 28. In the United States, the film premiered at the 2014 Tribeca Film Festival , where it screened in competition. In Germany, the film was released by Edition Salzgeber as the original with German subtitles in cinemas on March 26, 2015; the DVD was released on May 5.

reception

The film was received differently by critics.

Jay Weissberg was divided in the Variety : Something Must Break is a "resolutely transgressive romance", which can however "only sporadically" arouse interest; "Strong scenes" would alternate with "gloomy filling material and pseudo-provocation" and scenes of "groaning impudence" would destroy the attempted "poetic inwardness". Weissberg also criticizes the director for wrongly assuming that marginal figures in society are intrinsically fascinating. He rated the camera work and the choice of music better.

In the Guardian , Benjamin Lee described Something Must Break as "flawed but fresh". The “light” film works best as a “character study” almost exclusively based on the protagonist. Lee particularly praised the “captivating” acting performance by Saga Becker (Sebastian / Ellie) . The impression created by a certain "filthy ugliness" and a "garish style" is slowed down by too much repetition, however.

The film service praised the film , which is "visually ... between stylized melodrama and sheer realism", for the "harmonious romantic coloring" of the "common scenes of the main characters" and the "credible" interpretation by the actors.

Stefan Hochgesand from the taz certified director Bergsmark to focus on a “really queer subject”, which clearly sets the film apart from “the hundred times told coming-out stories about clearly gay boys and men who define themselves as such”. Something Must Break take the "queerness of the main character seriously". Carsten Moll wrote in queer.de about the camera work by Lisabi Fridell and Minka Jakerson: "The sex is broken down into highly artificial slow-motion tableaus, as we know them from the Lars von Triers films ."

Awards

Web links

supporting documents

  1. ↑ Release certificate for Something Must Break . Voluntary self-regulation of the film industry , January 2015 (PDF; test number: 149 506 K).
  2. ↑ Alissa Simon: Review: She Male Snails. In: Variety.com . February 6, 2012, accessed April 13, 2016 .
  3. ^ Sophie Mayer: Political Animals. The New Feminist Cinema. I. B. Tauris, London / New York 2015, ISBN 978-1784533724 , pp. 178/179.
  4. ↑ a b Stefan Hochgesand: Sometimes the eyebrows smile. In: taz.de. March 25, 2015, accessed April 13, 2016 .
  5. ↑ Five Questions with Something Must Break Director Ester Martin Bergsmark. In: Filmmaker Magazine. April 25, 2014.
  6. ↑ Product info . (PDF; 302 kB) Edition Salzgeber, April 7, 2015, accessed on April 13, 2016 .
  7. ↑ Jay Weissberg: Rotterdam Film Review: 'Something Must Break'. In: Variety.com. February 7, 2014, accessed on April 13, 2016 (English): “a determinedly transgressive romance of intermittent interest… he seems to think that marginalized people are, ipso facto, fascinating… Strong scenes compete with moody filler and pseudo-provocation… The director often aims for a certain poetic interiority, which he betrays with scenes of groaning unsubtlety. "
  8. ^ Benjamin Lee: Something Must Break review - bittersweet take on young love. In: The Guardian . April 2, 2015, accessed on April 13, 2016 (English): “this flawed but fresh Swedish drama… the compelling lead performance from newcomer Saga Becker… Director Ester Martin Bergsmark's slight film works best as a character study focused almost exclusively on the lead . There's a grubby ugliness… and a garish style that leaves an impression, although too much repetition holds it back. "
  9. ↑ Something Must Break. In: Filmdienst . Retrieved April 13, 2016 .
  10. ^ Carsten Moll: Theatrical release. “Something Must Break”: body fluids and great love. In: queer.de, March 25, 2015, accessed on July 23, 2019.
  11. ↑ Something Must Break (2014), Awards, Swedish Film Institute.
  12. ^ Highest Standards of Filmmaking Celebrated at the 50th Chicago International Film Festival's Awards Night. Chicago International Film Festival, October 17, 2014, accessed April 13, 2016 .
  13. ↑ Competitions and Prize Winners. (No longer available online.) Lesbian Schwule Filmtage Hamburg, archived from the original on 2015072 ; accessed on April 15, 2016 .
  14. ↑ Queer Lisboa 18 winners. (No longer available online.) Queer Lisboa, October 1, 2014, archived from the original on April 14, 2016 ; accessed on April 15, 2016 .
  15. ↑ Outfest Los Angeles 2014 Awards. (No longer available online.) Outfest, archived from the original on May 16, 2016 ; accessed on April 15, 2016 .
  16. ↑ Hivos Tiger Awards Competition. International Film Festival Rotterdam, accessed on April 13, 2016 (Dutch).
  17. ↑ Frameline38 Awards. (No longer available online.) Frameline, June 30, 2014, archived from the original on April 14, 2016 ; accessed on April 15, 2016 .