Together 99
Twenty-four years after the Tillsammans commune was founded, all former members of the community reunite. Ensemble comedy about the disillusions of middle age.
In 2000, Lukas Moodysson made TOGETHER (original Swedish title: TILLSAMMANS) about an idealistic group of Swedes who lived together in a commune in 1975. In TOGETHER 99 we see how they fare almost a quarter of a century later. Of the original members of the commune, only Klasse and Göran still live together in one house. To bring back some life and the old commune spirit, Klasse invites all the other residents of the original group for Göran’s birthday. Over the course of a day (and night), we see what seems to inevitably happen when people get older and meet again: nothing appears to be left of the old ideals, old romances are revived and old wounds reopened. And then, of course, there are the ailments of getting older. The only thing that remains then and really counts at a reunion is getting drunk with the people you were once close to.
Moodysson, one of the big names in Scandinavian cinema 25 years ago, films the reunion without any sentimentality. All scenes were shot in natural light, with the camera lens Moodysson’s father bought a year before he was born. As the director himself explains: ‘perfectly shot films are boring’. (jc)