Klingberg who adapted his story from a memoir but he refocuses as a comedy on the relationship between Lasse/Marianne (Rolf Lassgård) and Hanna (Hedda Stiernstedt) his daughter who has to crawl back to live at home again after her life in Stockholm falls apart.
Lasse is the well liked and respected town’s priest but for the past 30 odd years he has shared a secret with his wife. During the confines of their home Lasse likes to dress up in women’s clothes and become Marianne. The secret however is much harder to contain once Hanna moves back in, and when she overhears an argument between her parents and the name Marianne is mentioned, she assumes that could be the name of Lasse’s mistress.
With the help of her father, Hanna has finally landed a job in journalism. She is the junior reporter at the local TV station whose function is to cover the most inane small town events which she does so with some disdain. This very self-obsessed young lady believes it’s just the latest misfortune to befall her after she couldn’t find work in Stockholm and she caught her boyfriend inflagranti. When she eventually finds out her father’s secret, rather than be supportive, she interprets it as personal slight against her.
Without giving all away, the Church’s congregation are much more accepting of Marianne whose preaching is actually based on the movie When Harry Meets Sally than the Bible. And after all if the Potato Festival that year turns out to the best ever, then all’s well with the world.
Good performances from Lassgård and Stiernstedt make this gentle comedy an entertaining view even if it will not sit too well with the trans community who had to deal a very different real world
For details of where this film is being screened http://www.avantifilm.se/
