How sad is this?

Absolutely Fantastic

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

The biggest problem with this movie is it’s a little better than you think it might be, which somehow makes it worse. As in, it takes itself a bit too seriously, which makes most of the movie feel kind of dull.

I had a heavy workload which meant I delayed watching this Swedish short recommended to me by IMDb legend Bob The Moo . Normally if the Moo points something out worth seeking that's usually enough . Two things however . Bob once recommended Aronofsky's THE FOUNTAIN to me which I've never forgiven him for . Secondly - and if I may be allowed to broadcast it - Bob has become a father for the first time . I do wonder how much fatherhood affects perception ? I've got a feeling that much of the appeal of this short might be down to seeing the contrast between a young lad about to embark on the journey of adult life and an old man ending his life and how this ties in to a family unit It tries to be a fly on the wall documentary but any like any documentary it's never truly fly on the wall because concepts like editing and modified behaviour come in to play . There's also a musical score and found this just a little manipulative . In fact much of it is manipulative since we're dealing with bereavement and deterministic end . I also felt a sense of being an unwanted voyeur as the old man's body is taken away as his relatives grieve for him . I see the point it's making but it felt slightly "wrong" for want of a better word as the audience intrude on the departed On a more light hearted and personal note one segment features the young and his grandfather so on a search for chanterelle mushrooms . These were common on the Isle Of Bute and in the 1980s word got round that they had hallucogenic properties . Come September every year lots of teenagers would scour the rural fields of Bute picking as many "magic mushrooms" as they could then trying to find someone whose parents are out , boil the mushrooms on the cooker and drink the soup . Some people didn't even bother doing that and guzzled the mushrooms down raw . They taste awful raw .