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Description
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The film, which takes place in the late 1950s, is the story of 10-year-old Ingemar Johansson, who lives in a small town in southern Sweden on the coast with his lung-sick mother, his brother a few years older and the dog Sickan. He loves to tell drastic stories to his mother. Normally it is the best she knows, but now she is tired and consumed by the disease and prefers peace and quiet in the book world. At least that's how he perceives it. She is also often disturbed by his little jokes and inventions and gets furious about everything he happens to and does, which is often the result of his big brother's harsh provocations. He is afraid of his mother's outburst of anger and often seeks comfort from Sickan. In addition, he has a survival philosophy: "It's not that dangerous, when you think about it. It could have been worse." He often thinks of the dog Laika, who was sent into space without enough food, who was sacrificed for science and, abandoned, starved to death in space. "It's important to have things to compare with. You have to constantly compare.” When the mother's illness worsens and she is taken to hospital, big brother is sent to grandmother, and Ingemar by train to her uncle in Småland. Ingemar is worried about Sickan but is reassured that she is going to a dog boarding house. The uncle is a good-natured type, full of jokes and antics. He is married to the kind and friendly Ulla, and Ingemar immediately feels comfortable in their community. His uncle works, like everyone else, at the local glassworks, which offers him a new and strange environment. The uncle is a goalkeeper in the local football team and team leader for the boys' team, where Ingemar quickly takes a place. Here he gets to know Saga, who is the best in the team, even though she is a girl. She is also best at boxing, which is practiced in a ring built in the attic of a lodge. He also gets acquainted with the town's originals, including Fransson, who constantly lies and nails his roof, Tommy, a glassworks worker who rides a rope, the artist who wants to create a naked great-grandmother for the square in Kalmar, and the friend Manne's grandfather who designed original cable car. Original may also be the uncle's bedridden father-in-law, uncle Arvidsson, who lives in the same house as the son-in-law. For Uncle Arvidsson, Ingemar regularly reads aloud from a mail order catalog on request, but only the pages that describe bras and corsets "that sneak close to the skin”. Ingemar helps his uncle with the construction of a gazebo in the garden, all during the interrogation of Povel Ramel's "Father, I can not get my coconut up", which drives Ulla crazy. But he prefers his mother to come home again, so he can pull his wild "stories out of life" for her and make her laugh. One day he is told to go back home. But the mother is now near the end, and shortly afterwards she dies. When he returns to his uncle, Greeks live in Arvidsson's apartment, and he is allowed to live with Aunt Arvidsson, who, since her husband has died, lives alone in another house. He becomes best friends with Saga again but is disappointed in her, when she, after she has shown how her breasts have grown, mocks him for refusing to show her his penis. During a party at the home of classmate Karin, who is in love with him, there are jealousy scenes between her and Saga, who finally pulls away with him for a boxing match announced by Manne as the upcoming World Cup match between Ingemar Johansson and Floyd Patterson. During the match she says what everyone already understood, namely that Sickan was killed. Ingemar then starts fighting like an obsessive but falls out of the ring and down to the lodge. He crawls up and goes to the gazebo where he locks himself in. He refuses to communicate with his uncle, who he says lied to him about Sickan's fate. Only in the morning is he attracted when Manne arrives and shouts that Fransson is bathing naked in the frozen river. He is reconciled with Saga who suggests that they listen to the minutes from the World Cup match between Ingo and Floyd Patterson at her home. It is a bright summer night in Sweden when the match is fought in the USA, and when Ingo wins, the big cheers break out at the mill. Ingemar and Saga are lying on the sofa at her home. They have fallen asleep from the match holiday. (http://www.svenskfilmdatabas.se/sv/item/?type=film&itemid=14740#plot-summary)
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