Johan Croneman: That’s why I’m disappointed at Sweden and the war

If one thing we are enough in agreement: Documentary series such as « Sweden and the war » is SVT so it really screams – and public service at its best.

The series tells, describes, embodies, documents. And that with a pedagogy that makes it easy for everyone to absorb. It is television for the entire Swedish people. Therein is also one of the investment’s weaknesses, but let me come back to this.

In any case, Kristina Lindström’s and Henrik Stockare’s mega project on « Sweden and the war » is both very worthwhile and commendable. Benny Andersson’s fine music theme is quite Oandersson, very blowing, but with his unmistakable Urcsian melancholy and melancholy. Becomes a classic.

The five hour -long sections Treats the war years 1939-1945, from a home front perspective, and it is mainly in the imagery that the series makes itself indispensable. A material that we have never had access to before. Private movies, forgotten movies. You can probably talk about our country’s overall, collective memory – as long as the memory does not fail us, of course.

We who have devoted a large part of our lives to documentaries who deal with this specific time of world history are quite refined

There are diaries, letters, testimonies in a fierce stream. Everything is framed by the well -known dramaturgy of World War II. The attack on Poland, the occupation of our neighboring countries, Barbarossa, Pearl Harbor, Stalingrad, the liberation etc.

We who have devoted great Part of our lives for documentaries that deal with this specific time of world history is quite refined when it comes to the image story from the Second World War.

There are many iconic images in the general supply, much known and notorious film material – and it has often been recycled so many times that it almost lost its value. « Sweden and the war » also fill out their material with that kind of image propaganda (you can still call it) but it is still bearable.

The many unique, not infrequently beautiful, fun, melancholy, film cutters from the Swedish people’s own home archives describe intensely, and often a little moving, what everyday life looked like for the Swede in common during those disaster years in the history of humanity.

It is the living testimonies that make up the very backbone of the series

Kristina Lindström becomes Our ciceron and storyteller itself, it feels safe. They then fill up with some well -known actor voices, they read letters and historical documents – but it is the living testimonies that make up the series’ very backbone, along with the unique pictures, and this is where I may no longer feel completely comfortable and convinced: the testimonies.

Kristina Lindström and her producer Henrik Stockare have locked up very hard in the notion that « living » testimony is always the most reliable in this type of documentary depiction – I am doubtful.

I fail Of course, not the individual testimonies, but many of these memories are over 80 years old, and the witnesses were also very young or even very young children when it started. All historians who have worked, or work, with this type of material, know how difficult it is to assess credibility after seven, eight decades.

The series asks good questions – but is unable to straighten out a lot of question marks

The film’s authors rely on the amount of votes, above all. However, I had probably preferred significantly more written testimonies from people closer to the current historical events – and I had probably also preferred more historians and experts to explain and develop contexts and events.

And this ambition To turn to, and try to reach, exactly everyone – sometimes it even leads to not reaching anyone, and unfortunately may just scratch a little on the surface.

If you seriously want to deal with our country’s actions during the war, our German -friendliness, our race, the betrayal of our neighboring countries, then it requires a completely different type of deep dive in the archives and the historical sources. Then it is not enough with childhood memories. The series asks good questions – but is unable to straighten out many question marks. It’s a bit of a disappointment.

Read more Chronicles by Johan Cronemanfor example: The best thing I’ve ever seen about the Vietnam War.