Mark McCorkell The core story, a young teacher with a disassociated husband, falling in love with one of her pupils is sound. Despite some lurid aspects to the first act, the subject it approached very well.The turning point comes in a brief scene mid-movie between the husband and the young lover, where it's revealed that the husband knows all the comings and goings of his wife. It's a beautiful piece of cinema - the confrontation between a man and a boy who thinks he's a man.After that point, what was a sensitive coming-of-age movie goes downhill fast. There's an awkward moment between the lead and a minor character that probably gained the movie more controversy than it was worth. After that, nothing of interest.

stephanlinsenhoff Bo Widerbergs last movie All Things fair, the male lead is the directors son. It is the love fall between Stig, 15 and his teacher, Viola 37. 1942 in the Swedish town Malmö. The 1955-movie with the same theme is based on a true story ... while in the shadow of the moralizing the love affair between a students with the principals wife develops: "Så tuktas kärleken" with the yesterday-famous (even A Hitchcock heard of) the blonde Karin Ekelund. Significant for Bo Widerbergs movie is the students search for knowledge. He is in the classroom, searching for a word in the schools dictionaries. Enters the teacher, asking what he does and telling him the meaning of the word he looks for: middling/mediocre. He reads: "Latin, mediocre, person of moderate ability, work of no particular value." It is the beginning of their relationship: working class boy vs middle class woman. Primary not a love affair between them but she as the door to knowledge the working class is forbidden to have. The teachers guiding part, as member of the upper class, owns the power of knowledge. The end of their love story is not that her husband discovers their affair (he accepts what is going on) but the friendship between her husband and her lover that triggers her jealousy and ends the affair between upper and working class: doomed from its start. Who was used and who ...? She uses her power against the powerless. She tells the schools principal that Stig has to repeat his year and the principal tells Stig after the decision: "we are all in agreement that you should repeat the third year next term." The celebration in church of the schools years with the distribution of the certificates. The teacher in the place of the priest in front of the altar, calling the name/s of the pupil/s. Stig in his weekdays outfit enters, approaching her. We see only parts of his obscene gestures in front of his paralyzed teacher, Viola. He leaves the church, heading for the school. The doors are locked, entering as the working class boy he is by the cellar. He forces the classrooms door and takes the books. The books, the symbol for knowledge that always belonged to the ruling class. The last scene: above the schools entrance are carved in stone the sentence: Fear of the Lord is the Beginning of Wisdom. In two bags he carries the books: the wisdom that now belongs even to him, the working class Their relation was a wisdom-encounter and a time limited human encounter. It ended when Stig befriended with her husband. Stig is played by the editors/directors son. Some parts are autobiographic.

MartinHafer Technically speaking, this is an excellent film---with exceptional acting, direction, etc. However, as the main theme involves the sexual exploitation of a teen by his teacher, it is NOT exactly Disney fair! Apart from having a very adult theme and a fair amount of nudity, I felt very disturbed when the main character (Stig) had other sexual encounters with an apparently younger girl he knew from school. These scenes are awfully graphic and the girl appears to be about 12 years-old. I couldn't help but wonder if pedophiles would be particularly attracted to this film because of this. I really think these encounters COULD have been included but just not made so explicit. In a way, it seems almost like the director and producers may have sexually exploited this girl--as she was apparently well under the age of consent--even with her parents' permission.

iota74 I watched this movie by VCD and was so greatly touched by it that I watched it over and over again. There are much more I could feel than what I can put down for now. I really would like to know more about the story, its background and any information about the excellent actors and actress. What I have downloaded from the Internet was far from enough, even worse, most of them are written in Swedish. This totally denied me from having a better understanding of the movie. Unfortunately, I failed to get a Swedish-English/Chinese dictionary to help me out. (There is only a very brief one in Shanghai Foreign Book Trader with a price as high as 260 RMB).With all my knowledge so far, I think this movie is great in depicting how a youngster copes with whatever comes to him. Despite the sadness and confusion that he has gone through, he also gets the strength out of a kind of impotency. I really admire these artists of their talent in showing us the richness of life and in an elegant and natural way. In my eyes, there should be two kinds of arts: one is what "is", and the other is what "should be". As far as I've seen, many movies are relegated to what is not and what should not be. I just want to ask a favor to whomever you are, if you can help me with a Swedish dictionary and more about the movie. Of course, most importantly, your personal opinion about it.