Allison Davies
The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.
Hattie
I didn’t really have many expectations going into the movie (good or bad), but I actually really enjoyed it. I really liked the characters and the banter between them.
Kinley
This movie feels like it was made purely to piss off people who want good shows
liliana23-1
Yes, I remember seeing it a long time ago and still have in my mind that sunflower "walking" by an open window, still hear the voices with all that intensity of childhood in questions and answers... The camera seems at times to be a partner in the children's games, and to invite us to participate. I also enjoyed the absence of moralizing comments be they verbal or visual. You know it's a great movie when it stays with you for years! We need these movies out there, for others to enjoy and discover. There are a few moments that breathe similar air in "The Steamroller and the Violin" - Andrei Tarkovsky's first movie ( you can find it on Netflix). Any other movies that would dwell in the same area?I am an optimist, we'll find a DVD copy of it, eventually!
mgrich
I remember first seeing this film in 1968 when it struck me as an important piece of art. I saw it again on UK television in the early 70's and the second viewing confirmed my first judgement. It is the story of two children of very different classes, one well cared for but sad, the other almost feral, but (mostly) happy. The atmosphere of genuinely enjoyed play on the young actors part, comes through in many of the scenes and I can still smile to myself over some of them, even though I have not seen the film for thirty years.Now that I have grandchildren myself, I would like it to be available to them and to their parents as a realistic and very moving portrayal of what childhood was and should essentially remain, if only we could cut through the distractions of the 21st Century.Why can I not find a copy on VHS or DVD? This is a great film of its time and needs to be more widely known about and watched.
mikedarlow
Saw this enchanting movie 30 odd years ago. Warner Brothers own the rights, but do not offer it commercially.For those interested, it may be available on VHS from 'Childhood Visions Movie Club' at cost US$ 39.99 plus taxes and postage. 'Childhood Visions Movie Club' also hire it out on VHS.It was a most appealing movie. Never forgotten. Fredrik Becklen also appeared appeared in 'Hur Marie Traffard Fredrik" 1969. Probably similar movie, which is mentioned on a Russian Internet Site, in Russian language.I am surprised that 'HMTF' 1969 is not on your movie clubs wanted list.
eclecticology
I saw this at a cinémathèque in Paris in 1969, where it was followed by a discussion with the director. It is a film whose good feelings remain with me even more than 30 years later,Hugo is a young boy who lives alone and has pretty well raised himself. Josefin is the daughter of the local preacher. Her mother had years before chosen the stable but dull life with the preacher over the exciting but insecure life with the gardener. The gardener returns each summer to practise his trade and fund the adventures he will have in the rest of the year. In the year of the film he befriends the children, and puts excitement in their summer. Although the mother is solid with her prior choice, (there is no question of a revived affair.) she sees a similar dilemma being arranged for her daughter.The climax of the movie comes when the gardener's summer has ended and he must take his leave, much to the displeasure of the children. He is loath to face them to say good-bye, and tries to leave unnoticed. The children give chase, Hugo by riding his old-fashioned bicycle with the oversized front wheel. When a chair falls from the gardener's truck he must stop to retrieve it, only to find Josefin on the chair with Hugo standing beside her. There follows one of the most delightful dinner scenes on film in which the gardener's furniture is unloaded on the middle of the road, and the dinner proceeds as if they were all at home. At one point in the dinner each of them must take a whole hardboiled egg into his mouth at once to eat. The director announced that Josefin was not told about this before the actual take. The result is wholesome laughter. Ultimately the gardener indeed must leave, and he does so while the children and his furniture remain on the road. He reacts to his own tears by turning on the windshield wipers.
