Directors: Filip Hammar and Fredrik Wikingsson
Famous in Sweden as a longstanding TV double act, Filip and Fredrik met as journalists and have also become authors. Their collaboration on this feature-length documentary is on both sides of the camera. As presented, Fredrik tags along as Filip’s best friend, offering moral support when the latter takes his ageing father on a road trip to the South of France.
Filip’s dad, Lars, has lost his spark for living and says he no longer feels like himself. He also describes himself as a pessimist. However, Filip can’t accept his father’s decline. By retracing the route to their annual family holiday destination, and spending time there, he hopes to reignite some joy within Lars, as well as within himself. To make the journey, Filip acquires an iconic classic car similar to the one his family travelled in all those years ago. It’s an orange Renault 4 and it certainly plays its part in this passionately nostalgic story.
Archival audio and video clips are used, along with 8mm home movie material and photos, to suggest something of what those original holidays were like, and what sort of person Lars used to be. As well as being a much-loved dad, he was a truly inspiring teacher of French, likeable not least for being a genuine Francophile.
The whole set-up feels slightly forced and makes for uncomfortable viewing at times. However, Filip makes a vital point that underscores the theme of the movie: the need to live life with hope, and to go on doing so even when approaching the end.
The film-makers use their experience to incorporate some stunts into the story, which push the boundaries of the veracity we associate with documentaries. Nevertheless, these set pieces add interest and they appeal to Lars. We get to witness an improvement in the old man’s demeanour: he’s engaging more and smiling at last. While he feels physically feeble and that affects his morale, there’s no doubt that he’s loving being back in France and seeing some of his old haunts, and meeting up with old friends, perhaps for the last time.
This is a touching and entertaining film that canters along at a slick pace. It’s thoughtful and well-edited, with genuinely poignant moments, though some sequences are so well confected they’re too much like an advert. Here is a piece about unremarkable events in the history of an ordinary family that rise, through this kind of scrutiny, to something extraordinary.
The Last Journey is in UK cinemas from 20th June.
The Reviews Hub Score
Very touching
