| My Life as a Dog - Criterion Collection | 
 enlarge | Director: Lasse Hallstroem
Actors: Anton Glanzelius, Tomas Von Broemssen, Anki Liden, Melinda Kinnaman, Kicki Rundgren
Studio: Criterion
Category: DVD
List Price: $39.95
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Avg. Customer Rating:  44 reviews
Sales Rank: 32030
Format: Anamorphic, Color, Dvd-video, Subtitled, Widescreen, Ntsc
Languages: Swedish (Original Language), English (Subtitled)
Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Number Of Items: 1
Running Time: 101
Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.1 x 5.4 x 0.6
MPN: PMIDMYL010D
ISBN: 0780026217
UPC: 037429173527
EAN: 9780780026216
ASIN: B000087EY5
Theatrical Release Date: March 24, 1987
Release Date: March 11, 2003
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Amazon.com
Simultaneously elegiac and raw, this uneven--but unforgettable--tearjerker tells the story of Ingemar, a 12-year-old working-class Swedish boy sent to live with his childless aunt and uncle in a country village when his mother falls ill. Beginning with several representations of the most savage, unsentimental domestic intensity imaginable (interplay between a sick parent and loving child has never looked anywhere near as explosive), My Life as a Dog wisely doesn't attempt to maintain that level of danger; rather, the change in locale to rural Sweden is accompanied by a slackening of pace and a whimsical breeziness. Nevertheless, the tragic condition of Ingemar's mother (and later, the indeterminate fate of Sickan, his beloved dog, consigned to a kennel) hovers over the narrative with a gripping portentousness. At times, director Lasse Hallstroem misplaces the rhythm, and the film threatens to degenerate into a series of rustic vignettes; luckily, Ingemar's relationship with Gunnar, the jocular yet somewhat sinister uncle who essentially adopts him, carries a fascinating charge. In Swedish, with subtitles. This was later rewritten, whether intentionally or not, by Spike Lee, who changed the gender of the child, set the story in New York City, added a 1970s soul soundtrack, and called it Crooklyn. --Miles Bethany
Product Description
Ingemar is a working-calss 12 year old sent to live with his uncle in a country village when his mother falls ill. Once there ingemar finds refuge from his misfortunes & unexpected adventures with the help of the towns warmhearted eccentrics. Studio: Image Entertainment Release Date: 03/11/2003 Run time: 101 minutes Director: Lasse Hallstrom
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| Customer Reviews: Read 39 more reviews...
 An film about a snippet of life. April 24, 2008
This film seems ordinary when watching it though interesting, but by the time the story comes to a close you realize you've enjoyed to whole film and that it's a beautiful story.I think this is a story that reaches out to all who watch it and that we can all relate to it on one level or another.
It is an honest and lovely film, well recommended.
 Essential cinema: Hallstroem's 'Mitt liv som hund.' July 25, 2007
6 out of 6 found this review helpful
Swedish director, Lars Sven (Lasse) Hallstroem's (1946) film, My Life as a Dog (Mitt liv som hund) (1985) tells the bittersweet story of a working-class 12-year-old, Ingemar (Anton Ganzelius), who is sent to live with his uncle Gunnar (Tomas von Broemssen) and his wife Ulla (Kicki Rundgren) in a small rural town in Smaland, after his mother (Anki Liden) becomes terminally ill. In Smaland, he encounters a variety of warmhearted eccentics: Saga (Melinda Kinnaman), a tomboy who repeatedly beats him in boxing; Fransson (Magnus Rask), a man who continually fixes the roof of his house; and Mr. Arviddson (Didrik Gustavsson), an old man living downstairs who asks Ingemar to read to him from a lingerie catalog. At one especially memorable point in the film, Ingemar clings to Saga's leg and starts barking like a dog. Upset by his strange behavior, Saga tells Ingemar during a boxing match that his beloved family dog, Sickan (which he had thought was in a kennel) has been euthanized. This, along with his mother's death, is too much for Ingemar. He reassures himself throughout the film that it could have been worse, reciting several examples, such as the man who took a shortcut onto the field during a track meet only to be killed by a javelin, and the story of the dog "Laika," the first creature sent into orbit by the Russians (without any way to return to Earth). Hallstroem later went on to direct What's Eating Gilbert Grape, Something to Talk About, The Cider House Rules, and An Unfinished Life.
My Life as a Dog is among my all-time film favorites, and it consistently ranks in critical top movie lists. The Criterion edition offers an amazingly crisp digital transfer of the film, with a clear soundtrack and score, a 52-minute film by Lasse Hallstroem: Shall We Go to Your or My Place or Each Go Home Alone?, a video interview with Lasse Hallstroem, and Kurt Vonnegut's reflections on My Life as a Dog.
G. Merritt
My Life as a Dog July 9, 2007
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Hallstroem's winning tribute to the joys and sorrows of childhood skillfully balances bleak realism with poignant humor. It's hard not to love Glazelius, both for his outstanding performance and for his character's habit of comparing himself to those (like Laika) he believes are worse off. "My Life" is filled with rich characters and priceless scenes, like Ingemar's punishing loss in the boxing ring to a tomboy he's got a crush on, and the disquieting interactions he has with his ailing mother. Hallstroem later helmed big Hollywood projects like "The Cider House Rules" and "Chocolat," but here he's at his heart-piercing best.
My favorite movie August 9, 2006
7 out of 8 found this review helpful
Why is this my favorite movie? Because it simply presents life, in all its joys, griefs, paradoxes and mysteries. What puts this movie in a class by itself is the spirit of hope that runs through the movie, especially in the main character, Ingmar, whose indomitable spirit shines in the face of change and tragedy. Yet the movie never drifts into sentimentality. In the end, it's a movie about the mystery of love.
The central theme is Ingmar's "life as a dog." Like the dog that was shot into space by the Soviet's without regard to its safe return to earth, Ingmar, like most of us, seems to have been "shot into life" alone. The movie is a series of vignettes that combine in what seems to be a haphazard manner, but reflects, to my mind, the most meaningful and transcendant moments of our lives, moments that simply cannot be categorized.
These moments are funny, sad, tragic, hopeful, and above all, poignant. The scene where Ingmar boxes with his tomboy friend, ending in an embrace, defies words in its sublimity. The scene in which Ingmar's mother breaks down, is absolutely heartbreaking. And the wistful scenes of Ingmar's "marriage" to the neighbor girl, and his brother's description of intercourse to the neighborhood children, will remind you of the revelations of youth.
But there are insights into adulthood as well, as the happy-go-lucky uncle, and his happy but impish bride, contrast with the prim and glum foster parents, the perverted modern artist, and the man who is perpetually fixing his roof.
In the end, you'll be celebrating with Sweden, as Ingmar (get it?) Johanson triumphs over Floyd Patterson. Hurrah Sweden! Hurrah humanity!
One Part Humor, One Part Poignant, One Part Disturbing June 4, 2005
13 out of 18 found this review helpful
"My Life as a Dog" is a most unusual and most enjoyable movie. It is a Swedish film which I watched with the aid of subtitles. It would seem to qualify as a "coming of age" movie because it is about a 12 year old boy and his learning about sex and human fraility. Yet there is so much more to the story that it seems wrong to limit its' definition.
I missed the first couple of minutes of the movie but I doubt that there was some grandiose explanation as to what was about to transpire. What I saw was the story of a 12 year old boy (Ingemar) whose mother is ill enough that it affects their relationship. (His father is not a part of his life). At times she is his best friend and at times she is his worst enemy (with his brother a close second). Maybe that strikes us somewhat of our own relationships with our parents at that age. However, this relationship seems well beyond the ordinary. Ingemar has a child's normal curiosity and he seems to always being doing the wrong thing; usually as a result of something his brother did. This strains his mother's frail health. At one point, the mother needs so much peace and quiet that Ingemar is sent to live with his uncle up north. There the movie takes a turn for the better from our perspective. His uncle is a happy-go-lucky fellow who takes Ingemar under his wing. Ingemar makes many friends and seems to be having such a good time that we think it's too bad that he has to return home to mama after a few months. However, the director lets us know that home is where Ingemar's heart is. His heart is also with his dog who was sent to the kennel when Ingemar left for the summer. Well, enough of the plot.
The many scenes throughout the movie are well written directed and acted. Sometimes the movie seems more of a sequence of scenes rather than a movie with a theme. However, the theme is there and it was the title of the movie that helped me see it. Ingemar has a number of scenes where he shares his youthful thoughts and observations. He is fascinated by Laitka, the Russian dog who went up in space (this movie takes place around the late 1950's). He understood Laitka to have died because the Russians did not send along enough food or make any arrangements for his return; they just used him for their purposes and then were done with him. I understood this to be Ingemar's life to that point. He was brought into the world without any proper provisions for sufficient love and nurturing. His future is unplanned as he is sent to wherever he'll fit in without any real concern as to what best for him. Ultimately, there is no place for him to return to.
This is an excellent movie that combines a great script, excellent directing, and very good acting. The cast is all new to me and they were well-assembled. There are a lot of unusual characters that give the movie a special sort of seaoning.
"My Life as a Dog" is not a depressing movie. Rather, there is hope as the movie leaves us knowing that Ingemar has lost his two best friends in the world but has just discovered that he is starting to find some replacements.
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