RETRO: The film, which is showing as part of the Gala film festival, is shot entirely in the style of the '60s and '70s.
"God willing" is a sweet and funny movie with plenty of food for thought, featuring famous singers Nina Persson ("The Cardigans") and Armir Chamdin ("Infinite Mass") in the lead roles.
It is the summer of 1975 and Stockholm is in the grip of a heat wave. The main character Juan (Chamdin, also co-director and co-writer) is a hard working emigrant who refuses to lighten up. He takes life very seriously and is waiting for his wife's arrival in one week.
He accidentally meets a mysterious Finnish girl Juli (Persson) and, to his own surprise, dives into a set of new experiences with her without hesitation. Juan and Juli, both lonely strangers in the city, explore its unseen parts and get themselves into strange and funny situations. Their relations are innocent but give a growing feeling that much has been unsaid and it is only a matter of time when the hidden feelings shall be revealed.
The movie will make you laugh, but it is definitely complex and deep enough to make you think in the end. There are at least three interconnected layers to the film: love and romance, the complex human mind and the ability to dream, and immigrant life in Sweden.
As for love and romance, it is a Scandinavian film so no big drama there 's a sigh or a glance say more than the euphoric screams or bloody daggers in Hollywood. In this respect, Juan is as Scandinavian as an immigrant of a few years can be. He even talks with his brother in Swedish and demonstrates high levels of discipline and tolerance, a must for a gentleman worthy of accompanying a Finnish lady.
The film resembles "Lost in Translation" because much remains lost in the shadows of an elevator or a subway and the romance is implied.
At the beginning of the movie, Juan is very much a mindful person, unable to "dream weird" and always putting his job(s) first. Juli encourages him to walk on the wild side and helps him discover the neglected part of his personality, the part that is capable of dreaming, and brings back balance and joy to his life. At the end, the film has an interesting twist and leaves you wondering how much of it was real. There are at least three possible ways to explain the ending, and viewers who like everything neatly served up might consider it too open or even abrupt.
Immigrants of the '60s and '70s came to Sweden for various reasons, but all had similar dreams to find the new life and all were a bit lonely in their new world. As the movie shows, some made it, some did not, most were subject to mocking, and some even turned into terrorists. C'est la vie 's the film offers a somewhat melancholic but overall positive view on life; life can be tough, but it's good, including that of an immigrant in Sweden.
Now showing in Lithuania
