The Last Journey review — this Swedish documentary will make you weep
This profoundly lovely Swedish documentary is a crowd-pleasing road movie that hides a feral heart. Slickly shot, it's an often bleakly funny account of a last-ditch drive from central Sweden to southern France by the TV host Filip Hammar and his ailing 80-year-old father, Lars. Filip is retracing the beloved holiday trips of his childhood in an attempt to jog Lars, a former French teacher and committed Francophile, out of his incipient physical and cognitive decline. Along for the ride is Filip's fellow Swedish TV personality Fredrik Wikingsson, who invests the project with the kind of larky bromantic air (think early Judd Apatow) that's made it the highest-grossing Swedish documentary in history.
• Read more film reviews, guides about what to watch and interviews
That's the commercial. The reality is thornier. For every glossy drone shot of the three principals whizzing through the French countryside in a vintage Renault 4, there is a growing suggestion that Filip's mission to 'rejuvenate' his father is one of juvenile denial. Lars speaks in a whisper and can't eat, drink, walk or bathe without help. He falls and is hospitalised early on. His memory is fading. And though he is still moved by French culture, and by the songs of the Belgian Jacques Brel, he often appears on camera as a frozen soul who is fastened, in the uncompromising words of WB Yeats, 'to a dying animal'.
The film, co-directed by Hammar and Wikingsson, eventually acknowledges this and captures a fiercely sad conversation in which Lars says to his son, with poetic clarity, 'I hope you're not disappointed in me, Filip. Because I'm not the same any more. It's just that time has passed.'
And speaking of weeping … sweet Lord! The film builds to the kind of devastating sequence that doesn't just gently jerk some tears but grabs them and yanks them out relentlessly until you've collapsed in a heap on the floor, wailing, 'No more! No more! Jag alskar dig, Lars! Jag alskar dig!'★★★★☆
PG, 95min
In cinemas from Jun 20
Times+ members can enjoy two-for-one cinema tickets at Everyman each Wednesday. Visit thetimes.com/timesplus to find out more.
Which films have you enjoyed at the cinema recently? Let us know in the comments and follow @timesculture to read the latest reviews
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Times
39 minutes ago
- Times
Time for change: watches that are worn anywhere but the wrist
While most watches today are worn on the wrist, originally they came in the shape of fobs — attached to a waistcoat or uniform by a chain or ribbon — or were hung on pins. Later they were put on wrist straps for convenience, a style that was common after the First World War. Now makers are relegating the telling of time to a secondary function. 'We're seeing watches evolve into expressions of personal style as consumers seek more distinctive accessories,' explains Ben Staniforth, of the pre-owned luxury timepiece retailer Watchfinder & Co. 'Worn on lapels as pendants or integrated into couture, they reflect a trend where fashion meets functionality.' This article contains affiliate links that can earn us revenue Arsham Droplet watch, £76,000, If evidence is needed that this is entering mainstream culture, the actress Jenna Ortega rocking up at A$AP Rocky's Met Gala afterparty last month with an antique men's pocket watch by Heuer (known today as Tag Heuer) from c 1914 dangling from her tuxedo bodysuit should be proof enough. And the high echelons of watchmaking have cottoned on to this trend for self-expression too. Hermès debuted its Maillon Libre brooch watch in April. This gem of a timepiece can be pinned to a lapel or sleeve, or worn around the neck with a leather cord — and is a frontrunner for design ingenuity. Despite its established place in the serious fashion sphere, Chanel also knows how to have fun with its designs. The new Kiss Me necklace appropriately takes the form of the brand's cult lipstick. If that wasn't charmant enough, it slides open to reveal a hidden watch dial. Kiss Me necklace in yellow gold, golden beryls, rhodolites, onyx and diamonds, POA, Sixtie sautoir watch in rose gold, white opals and diamonds, POA, Also restringing its pearls is Piaget, which has taken inspiration from its archival necklace watches from the Sixties: the Sixtie sautoir has a lozenge watch dial as its focal point in a masterful melding of high jewellery and horology. And Hublot's long-standing collaboration with leading artists resulted in the release of a timepiece that sent ripples through the watch world last year. Designed by the visual artist Daniel Arsham, the Droplet is tethered to a chain and cased in sapphire glass, offering a clear view of the moving mechanical parts within. This cute kidney bean of a timepiece is as far removed from your grandad's gold pocket watch as you can get. Van Cleef & Arpels is a dab hand with watches that combine complex engineering with stellar gem setting. At first glance, its padlock-shaped Cadenas might look like a heavy-duty bracelet, but take a closer look and you'll find an angled watch dial set among a dazzling mix of gold, diamonds and sapphires. Panthère hinged bangle watch in yellow gold, lacquer, onyx and diamonds, POA, Sundial watch in steel, £128, Cartier is another high jeweller and watchmaker that excels at combining precious materials with covert details. Its new Panthère has Duchess of Windsor glamour in spades with its big-cat hinged bangle: cast in solid gold and set with precious stones, it also fits in a watch dial, revealed by turning your wrist a few degrees. But the most novel creation is by the young, dynamic German brand Nomos Glashütte. Its sundial watch, which can be worn as a ring or around your neck, has a machined hole that lets a beam of sunlight fall on the engraved numbers to tell the hours. It's useless at night, but it will certainly be a talking point during working hours.
Times
40 minutes ago
- Times
Reversible jewellery: designs that dazzle front and back
'The back should look as good as the front.' That's the first lesson instilled in goldsmiths at the world's most prestigious jewellery houses. It's a natural extension then to create pieces that are entirely reversible — a welcome feat at a time when gold prices are eye-wateringly high. This article contains affiliate links that can earn us revenue Rush Hour necklace in yellow and white gold and diamond, POA, Jessica McCormack's new Rush Hour collection features a sculptural wavy torque with a diamond nestled in one of its curves. The piece can be worn with the yellow-gold side facing out or flipped to reveal the white gold, so you can match it to your outfit. Chanel's Sport collection brings the same versatility to rings that pivot from a statement round-cut diamond to a more discreet enamel design on the back. Dior too embraces the concept with the latest additions to its Rose des Vents line: bracelets and necklaces whose spinning charms reveal a diamond-centred compass rose or a gently domed gemstone in hues including delicate pink opal, vivid malachite and sky-blue turquoise. Rose des Vents earring, necklace and ring in yellow gold, pink gold, white gold, platinum, diamonds, malachite, lapis lazuli, tiger's eye, pink opal, turquoise, mother-of-pearl, onyx and red ceramic lacquer, all POA, Reversibility also takes centre stage at Pomellato in the new Pom Pom Dot collection, inspired by a vintage piece. 'The discovery of a button motif in a necklace from 1974 in our archives was the starting point,' says Pomellato's creative director, Vincenzo Castaldo. 'However, we added playfulness by creating a double-sided button. Pom Pom Dot allows the wearer to flip the button to the plain gold or gem-set side,' he adds. Pom Pom Dot comprises earrings, rings and bracelets with button-shaped pendants in malachite, turquoise, mother-of-pearl and diamonds. With a satisfying click, each piece swivels to reveal a different face in rose gold. Gouette Question Mark necklace in white gold, green tourmaline, rock crystal and diamonds, POA, In India, the belief that the back of a jewel should be as beautiful as the front is rooted in a philosophy that considers beauty and craftsmanship as pathways to spiritual completeness. This applies particularly to bridal jewellery, where the hidden decoration on the reverse is seen as a metaphor for the bride's inner beauty. Honouring this tradition, Sabyasachi's opulent necklaces — no matter how lavishly set with diamonds on the front — are enamelled on the back with motifs of lotuses, peacocks and parrots. The technique, known as meenakari, was introduced during the Mogul era and originally helped protect the metal from corrosion. Cartier Le Voyage Recommencé High Jewellery necklace in white gold, diamonds, rock crystal and coloured lacquer, POA, Cartier's historic ties to India, which have inspired some of the maison's most innovative creations — including its flamboyant Tutti Frutti style — also informed a recent high jewellery necklace with two strikingly different sides. The front embodies art deco minimalism, with a cascade of rock-crystal drops interspersed with diamonds that shimmer in luminous white. But turn the piece over and it reveals a hidden explosion of colour as saturated magenta and deep blue enamel form an abstract pattern that's totally concealed when viewed from the front. Boucheron has also added a surprise to the back of its iconic Point d'Interrogation, or Question Mark, necklace. First unveiled at the 1889 Exposition Universelle in Paris, this sinuous, clasp-free jewel, designed to be swung around the neck with a single hand, earned Frédéric Boucheron the prestigious Grand Prix. More recently the house reimagined the design with three distinctive variations, one with rubellites, another with green tourmalines and a third with deep blue tanzanites. On the reverse, each sparkles with diamonds on rock crystal. Never has the concept of 'buy one, get one free' resulted in something so stylish. Main picture: Pom Pom Dot ring in rose gold, malachite, diamonds and mother-of-pearl, £3,950,
Times
an hour ago
- Times
Look sharp — the return of jewellery pins
Male adornment is in vogue again — at recent red carpet events, pins have been spotted on many an A-list lapel. Their roots lie in the jabot pin, with which men secured a lace ruffle to the front of their shirts in the 17th and 18th centuries. During the early art deco period of the Twenties, they would be revived by jewellery houses such as Cartier, which also took inspiration from the turban pins of its newly acquired Indian royal clientele. Rock crystal, onyx and carved emerald beads characterised these creations with a decorative element set at each end. Today, the British jeweller Glenn Spiro's first unisex collection includes a series of seven pins using materials such as ebony, horn and (west African) Baoulé gold mixed with antique diamonds. Boucheron has looked to its archive for the arrow motif, whose design naturally fits a pin's construction, here morphing from brooch to single earring. And Dior has gone punk — its take comes in the form of the humble safety pin strung with charms in new iterations from the maison's Rose des Vents collection — while Chaumet's diamond-set signature bee sits at one end of a gold pin, with a single cell of honeycomb in the shape of a hexagonal diamond at the other. 1. Flèche single stud earring in white gold and diamonds, £15,300, 2. Nomoli Deco tie pin in yellow gold, diamonds and ceramic, £6,500, 3. Harlequin pin in yellow gold, silver, rubies and sapphires, £1,595, 4. Materials of the Old World Tribal brooch in yellow gold, diamond, horn and ebony, POA, 5. Tasaki x Fiona Krüger Chaos lapel pin in white gold and black South Sea pearl, £8,100, 6. Charms brooch in yellow and pink gold, diamonds and ornamental stones, £6,600, 7. Forces of Nature Fortitude lapel pin in titanium and diamonds, POA, 8. Bee My Love brooch in yellow gold and diamonds, £13,500, 9. Belle Époque stick pin in yellow gold, turquoise, pearls and rubies, £1,250, 10. Fleur de Pavot Bud brooch in gold plate and rock crystal, £280,
