Swedish writer/director Lukas Moodysson burst onto the scene two years ago when his Fucking Åmål became a popular hit on the festival circuit, earning him mad props from Ingmar Bergman himself.  That film, re-titled Show Me Love here because the U.S. can't handle obscenities, earnestly depicted the lives of two teenage lesbians in a super-dull small town called Åmål (hence the profane title).  Together, Moodysson's latest feature, is just as candid, but expands the scope from two main characters to about a dozen.

Set in 1975 Stockholm on the eve of Franco's death, most of Together takes place in a crowded home to seven people attempting to create their own communal living environment called Tillsammans (the Swedish word for "together"), which also happens to be painted on the group's VW Microbus.  It's the kind of place where weekly meetings are held to air your concerns and, for at least one tenant, your vagina, as well.  They come off, mostly, as a lazy lot who love to argue over dirty dishes and would rather debate the evil Pippi Longstocking, that materialistic whore, than expend any energy getting dressed (by the way, none eat meat and their spirits don't improve until hot dogs are introduced to the household, so go figure).

There are all manner of relationships in the house, too.  Göran (Gustav Hammarsten) and Lena (Anja Lundkvist) are involved, but it's an open relationship, meaning she can canoodle with angry Communist Erik (Olle Sarri).  The vagina-airing Anna (Jessica Liedberg) was married to cynical med student Lasse (Ola Norell) but has recently announced she's gay. Meanwhile, Klas (Shanti Roney; think Crispin Glover in a blonde Dutchboy wig) is trying to get Lasse to switch sides, while grade-schooler Tet (Axel Zuber), named after the Vietnam offensive, likes to play "Pinochet," which involves pretending to be tortured by live wires.

As if that wasn't enough excitement for one tiny house, Göran's sister Elisabeth (Lisa Lindgren) and her two kids, Eva (Emma Samuelsson) and Stefan (Sam Kessel), move in to get away from her abusive, alcoholic husband Rolf (Michael Nyqvist).  As in Åmål, the children seem much smarter than the adults, realizing the situation is fucked up the minute they walk in the door, even if they are likely to be Sweden's future serial killers because of the experience.  What else would happen to kids deprived of television, meat and Christmas?  Tet is floored by the sight of Eva's Legos and shamefully admits his dad tried to make some out of wood for him but stopped after just two pieces.

The new female additions to Tillsammans quickly find themselves pursued by would-be suitors - Elisabeth by Anna, and Eva by a neighbor boy named Fredrik (Henrik Lundström).  The former is creepy, while the latter is awkwardly touching and made much funnier by Fredrik's parents, who are kind of like the Abner and Gladys Kravitz of the neighborhood (assuming Abner used to jerk off in the basement while fantasizing about Samantha).

Together is a weird blend of The Real World, Lars von Trier's The Idiots and a hippie cult.  Moodysson doesn't poke too much fun at commune living, but he doesn't present it as the absolute answer to everything, either.  The result is a nicely balanced story that doesn't take sides, and there's surprisingly little ABBA (it's still probably more than you need, though).  The acting is very solid considering most of the talent have very little experience, if any at all.  Together looks like it was filmed in 1975, too, thanks to cinematographer Ulf Brantås.

1:46 –

for nudity/sexuality and language