(Written and directed by Maria Blom)

Quite frankly, I'm a little surprised to see "Dalecarlians" score as highly in Rotterdam as it does, for while it's unquestionably a good film (all the more impressive for being a feature-length debut), my main thought as I was watching it was that it was obviously written and directed by a woman, and as such might not be too appealing to men. Clearly I was wrong about the latter, for not only is "Dalecarlians" a hit with men and women alike, but its staunchest defenders appear to be men. Not bad for a relationship drama about three sisters who never take their kit off and probably wouldn't look too pretty if they did.

The protagonist of "Dalecarlians" is Mia, a thirty-something yuppy from hip and happening Stockholm who goes back to the countryside where she grew up (the Dalecarlia of the title) to celebrate her father's seventieth birthday. This is not as straightforward an occasion as it might seem, for not only is Mia not particularly close to her family (a bunch of rustics who never look beyond the borders of their own county, let alone the borders of their own country), but she also feels no affinity whatsoever for their village, a drab dump which is firmly stuck in the 1950s. To make matters worse, bad things tend to happen on her father's birthday. In the past, several relatives met with accidents on the old man's birthday; one of them even blew his brains out to mark the occasion. So pretty much the first thing Mia's relatives do when she arrives at her parents' place, after pointedly not asking her about her life in Stockholm, is jokingly speculate on what bad luck might befall them this year. Needless to say, this is the prelude to an eventful family reunion during which many bottles of home-brewed alcohol are consumed and the skeletons just keep tumbling out of the cupboard. In the end, several members of the dysfunctional family learn a useful lesson in life, but not before tragedy has come knocking on their door.

"Dalecarlians" is a solid tragi-comedy, full of painful little touches which will strike a chord with anyone who has ever felt alienated from his family. Most of the drama stems from Mia's family's inability to communicate - their habit of not asking each other questions which matter and not listening whenever someone volunteers an important bit of imformation. This inability to communicate results in a fair number of botched conversations, painful silences and arguments, all of which have an authentic feel. The family's communication problem is made so tangible that one really feels Mia's frustration when, after a full day in the village, no one has shared her happiness at her just having been promoted at work, and no one has asked just what kind of work she does. But the lack of communication isn't just Mia's problem. As the film progresses, one gets the feeling that the whole family is suffering from it - that lurking behind the mask of lack of interest and occasional hostility is a family which desperately wishes to communicate and be a real family again, but doesn't know how to turn back the past twenty years.

There is a lot going on here. While the main theme is evidently communication (or lack thereof), there's also the obvious contrast between the hip urbanite and the stubborn, occasionally narrow-minded villagers, people who've seen the world and people who are content always to stay in their own village, and the generation gap which exists even between Mia and her elder sisters, two devoted mothers who just can't understand why Mia would prefer a job to a family. And as if that weren't bad enough, there's also a lot of unresolved stuff from the past, not to mention some secrets waiting to be revealed.

What makes "Dalecarlians" the little gem that it is, is its compassionate depiction of the characters. Initially, one sees the family through Mia's eyes, meaning one looks down upon them a little and feels sorry for Mia for having to stick it out with them for a few days. However, the perspective gradually shifts, to the point where one somewhat changes one's mind about both Mia and her relatives. First of all, one realises that, despite their seeming lack of interest, Mia's relatives do in fact care a lot about their lost daughter/sister - as one neighbour succinctly puts it, "They may not say much to you when you're here, but you have no idea how much they talk about you when you're gone." Next one discovers they're all worthy people, old-fashioned and narrow-minded though they may be. With a few well-observed touches, even Mia's bossy elder sister Eivor, who clearly envies Mia with a vengeance, is turned into a likeable character. If anyone is at all being judged, it is Mia herself, but it's hard to tell as Blom largely refrains from judgement. She is content to let her characters present themselves in all their sodden glory, making "Dalecarlians" not only a very honest film, but also a very human one. With its stress on emotions and relationships, it is inevitably a very feminine film, but as I said, this doesn't seem to prevent men from enjoying it - probably because in all its well-observed detail it's very recognisable, and features some very funny moments.

If I had to sum up "Dalecarlians" in a sentence, I'd say it was like a Swedish version of Baltasar Kormakur's "The Sea", which was quite a hit on the festival circuit two years ago. If you liked that film (an Icelandic tale of a family reunion gone horribly awry, with plenty of nasty confrontations and some very black humour), chances are you'll enjoy this, too. If not, well, there's always "Home for the Holidays", you know.

Elaine