Harry Potter and the Deatly Hallows, part 1

I'm not sure but I think that this is the fourth Harry Potter-film we see, me and Aurore and none of us have been particularly impressed neither by the story as such - as far as we know it, not having read the books - nor by the adaptation for the movies.
Of course there are a lot of 'fantastic' material in this film as well as in the others but the story doesn't 'shake us to the ground'.
I also find that the mixture between now and then, between a more cinematographically, geographically and socially 'realistic' setting and the beyond our here and now reality, doesn't work out so well.
If I compare with the Narnia films, I think the two-sided, realities, divided by a wardrobe door makes the story much more fantastic as the young heroes can leave their 'real' reality behind and enter the surreal reality in full.
In Harry Potter I find the story somewhat incoherent when it comes to the different characters, their powers and weaknessess, there relations and the origin of their conflicts.
This might be due to the fact - as stated above - that I haven't read the books and not even seen all the films.
Even if I like Ralph Fiennes very much as an actor, I don't find his interpretation of Voldemort being sufficiently scary, even though he uses a 'whispering' voice in order to sound intimidating.

We found the film being a couple of hours good entertainment but not more.

Glöggparty

We had invited family members from around France to our 'glöggparty' but some of them were engaged in other events and some live to far away, like Bretagne, Nice and Paris among other places, wherefore we were few but on the same time being able to eat more!

Below some of the starters before eating Swedish meatballs, salmon and more.
The last two photos depict the mandatory 'Lucia Cats' ('Lussekatter') or saffron bread and gingerbreads.
To this we drank sparkling wine and - of course - 'glögg' or 'mulled wine'/'glühwein'/'vin chaud' in other languages.
(Sorry for the bad quality of some of the photos).

Swedish crispbread ('knäckebröd')

Gingerbread with Roquefort-like cheese on

Chorizo and figs

So called 'Skagenröra' (a blend of shrimps, eggs, mayonnaise,
dill, red onion, some lemon, salt and black peppar) on bread.

Cheese and raisins on bread.

Gingerbreads in the form of elks, squirrels, foxes and more.

'Saffron buns'.

(Photo taken from: https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiP3WAsuWoCRp6ei9XemVgUBmtD6VkM8oi5cBsHKUZzo_p06Iq-k-5eRkViIpLdBF3KLrXJNdhCFxHXEGgD4KnPvprEF2Z_d444OUlJeZfMoMPNrU4jkf1hnpEkdiTyl0RTwT122g/s1600/glogg_2_medium%5B1%5D.jpg)

Potiche

This film by François Ozon is a 'bagatelle' but a charming one.

We meet a CEO for a company making umbrellas - Robert Pujol (Fabrice Luchini) - and his 'potiche' (in French meaning both a big China Vase and figurehead or in this case jewelry/bijou) and wife Suzanne (Catherine Deneuve).
In his opinion her role in life is to stay at home, taking care of the house, the children and be a good hostess, a role she has clung to all her married life, until one day...
Problems occur and there is an immediate risk for a strike among the workers in the factory, an event causing Robet Pujol a heart attack.
On the same time one have to act and Suzanne Pujol contacts a union leader, Maurice Babin (Gérard Depardieu) and - as it happens to be - a former lover from when they were young.
He agrees to help her/them and suggests that she takes care of the business as CEO during the time her husband is hospitalized.
Her family laughs but she agrees, talks with the employees and assume her responsibility as a CEO - and this so succesfully that her husband no longer is needed when leaving the hospital.
In this film there are other questions dealt with, as for example if the son of Pujols is their son or the son of Suzanne and Maurice.
There are also interesting shifts between the formerly very conservative Suzanne and her progressive daughter, turning all around ending with the daughter becoming a 'potiche' instead of her mother, turning around again in the end.

A charming history but nothing extraordinary.
Probably a film very popular among the from-time-to-time-cinema-goer, not used to see much film but loving to see actors they know and have known for years.

At Cinéma Lux in La Châtre, where we saw this film, the average age was higher than usual.

His Girl Friday

A classic - whatever this means - with Cary Grant and Rosalind Russell in the leading roles as a divorced but ambivalent couple.
Hildy Johnson (Russell) has met another man and she is going to be married to him - that's at least what they think.
They both visit the newspaper editorial office, where Hildy used to work with her husband Walter Burns (Grant), just in order to present her future husband.
However the feelings hasn't totally vanished, even if this also contains a lot of anger and quarrel, not least as Hildy thinks that Walter mostly has used her because she's such a competent reporter.
Walter tries everything to get his wife back and the potential husband soon understand swhat's going on.
Gradually Hildy is drawn in to the work as a reporter and the arms of Walter but more the work than the arms.
A prisoner condemned to death becomes their main target as professionals and couple and they use him too - as they use everyone else around them to get what they want - in order to raise the copies of the newspaper.
The story goes on with a lot of humour, high tempo, shoot outs, mother-in-laws being insulted, journalists acting as the wolves they are etc etc.

A charming little history, in itself very predictable but on the whole amusing and entertaining.

Director: Howard Hawks.

Morianerna (Morianna)

Arne Mattsson is probably most known for his film 'Hon dansade en sommar' ('One Summer of Happiness'/'Elle n'a dansé qu'un seul été') where a nudity scene became famous and in a way changed the way of making films or daring to make film in the Northern parts of Europe.

He is also known for his thrillers with his police 'hero' John Hillman, solving different kinds of murder cases in collaboration with his clumpsy colleague Freddy.
In this film we get to meet a lot of characters but the principle one is Verner Vade (Anders Henrikson) an 80 year old millionaire who is hated by everyone because of his harshness and dictatorial behaviour towards both family and employees.
He lives with his much younger wife Anna (Eva Dahlbeck) and his daughter Monica, (Ella Henrikson) her fiancé Jonas (Walter Norrman) and Anna's nephew Boris (Heinz Hopf).
In the background we also have Anna's sister Agda (Elsa Prawitz) married to the lawyer Bengt Ahlgren (Ove Tjernberg).
All of these people want him dead and they all plot against him and each other in order to be able to gain as much money as possible when he dies - and of course he dies - murdered by one of the above mentioned.
A policeman (Olle Andersson) tries to solve the murder case...

In general one can say that it's not at all a bad thriller, somewhat in the 'English style' with a policeman thouroughly and methodically investigating the case.
Unfortunately the actor doing the role of the policeman is somewhat parodic in his acting and I don't know why but this tend to lower the score of the film as most other actors are fairly good, though somewhat stereotypical.

Reptilicus

What one can say about this film is that, it was at least a bit entertaining!
In Denmark one discover a piece (tail) of a prehistoric fossil, being brought to a research center and their being the object to research, trying to decide what kind of 'animal' or reptile this is.
Of course everything goes wrong and the animal comes to live, multiplies and becomes a danger to the whole Danish population.
Maybe the reptile is a symbole for Sweden? Who knows.
One can add that as in most films about monsters, the sequences where we don't see thmonsters are often the most suspensful ones in the movie. Once revealed and seen in public the thrill often - not always - ends and the comedy begins.
In this film the suspense is indeed turned into a comedy.
However one have to say that up til the revelation of the monster, it's not the worst monster film we've seen. It didn't lack ambition but...

For us the most well known actor was Dirch Passer, by some regarded as the best Danish comedian of all time.

Directors: Poul Bang and Sidney W. Pink

Kautokeinoupproret (The Kautokeino Rebellion)

This is a film about the conflicts between different groups of people in the northern parts of Norway, in the little village of Kautokeino, a Sami village existing in reality.
The year is 1852.
The reindeer keepers work hard with their herds of reindeers in order being able to live of the land and gain some money on the products made from these animals.

On the same time a tradesman - Ruth (Mikael Persbrandt) - having monopoly on everything they need for themselves and their animals, make their life hard. Not least as Ruth cooperates with the local priest and policeman helping him becoming richer on behalf of the Samis.

One of the Samis - Mathis (Aslat Mahtte Gaup) - is to keen on liquour and he ends up being debted to Ruth who have no mercy on him.

When Mathis refuses to pay the conflicts starts and one thing leads to another.

One of the women - Ellen (Anni-Kristiina Juuso) - meets one of the most famous preachers in the Nordic countries at the time - Lars Levi Laestadius (Mikael Nyqvist) - and becomes inspried by his sermons.

She decides to start preaching herself, all according to the content in the teaching of Laestadius who often said that the most important thing was not the Church or the churches and their priests but the laymen, preaching the Word of God.

Ellen tries to 'save' the Samis from the liquor and the bad influence of the tradesman and his 'accomplices'.
This her initiative calls for action and another famous priest is called to Kautokeino in order to 'convert' the 'misled' Sami population.

This is built on a real story and the director and some of the actors are samis, from a famous sami family, Gaup.
It's not an extremely violent film but both the dispair and hope is visible and made explicit in this oeuvre, making the viewers 'oscillate' between the same emotions.
The film also depicts the different characters not in 'black and white'/'good and evil' but as people being responsible for their actions, not being destined for this or that but having to take the consequences of their choices, whether it's the tradesman, the police, the priests or the sami population.
The photo is often very beautiful and the less known actors (less known to us I should say) are the ones creating the best individual portraits.

Director: Nils Gaup.

(Photo Mikael Persbrandt taken from: http://noheroine.blogg.se/images/2010/mikaelpersbrandt_22384862_106612825.jpg)
(Photo Aslat Mahtte Gaupt taken from: http://oslopuls.aftenposten.no/multimedia/archive/00006/_kautokeino_jpg_6392d.jpg)
(Photo Anni-Kristiina Juuso taken from: http://is11.snstatic.fi/kuvat/Anni-Kristiina%20Juuso%20palkittiin%20Norjassa/img-1288333190977.jpg)
(Photo Mikael Nyqvist taken from: http://svt.se/content/1/c6/94/51/36/nykvist_narbild_385.jpg)
(Photo Nils Gaup taken from: http://www.filmweb.no/bilder/multimedia/archive/00090/Regiss_r_Nils_Gaup_f_90037a.jpg)