Criterion Collection, 1985, 110 minutes
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In this classic Swedish film, 12-year-old Ingemar has little he can count on. While he lives with his angry, ailing mother and volatile older brother, his truest companion is a small, expressive female dog, Sickvan. When Ingemar's mother grows too ill to care for her children, Ingemar is sent to family members in the country, while the dog is sent to a kennel.
For a while, Ingemar is able to distract himself with his loving, soccer-mad uncle Gunnar and a motley crew of characters who populate Gunnar's workplace, a glassblowing company. The movie, set in the 1950s, revels in period detail, from old record players to the proud acquisition of the town's first TV. Ingemar inches closer to adolescence - he sees his first naked lady, a curvy model for a local artist. He even acquires a tomboy pal, Saga, an ace soccer player who loves the game so much, she and Ingemar bind her breasts so she can play with the boys. Meanwhile, his heart aches for his mother, who suffers from TB, and for Sickvan the dog.
The little Swedish glassblowing town Ingemar finds temporary refuge in rivals the series Northern Exposure for eccentrics per square inch. For the briefest of moments, Ingemar finds a loving, stable home. But be warned: the dog of the movie's title, the one Ingemar identifies with? That would be Laika, the hapless dog the Russians shot into space.
Despite glorious performances by all the actors, particularly the children, this movie - a tribute to a child's resilience in the face of unbearable loss - is not for kids, or fainthearted adults. Perhaps this beautifully made film's greatest triumph is that, just when you don't think you can bear it any more, it makes you laugh just enough to keep watching.
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