Kemp’s Creative Happiness Blog

Actually the movie is made up of two parts, the first is called ‘Paradise’, filmed in 2007 and follows the ordinary lives of Kerstin and Hans Stralstroem, an elderly couple that have been together for more than 60 years, living in the idyllic forests of Sweden. The film opens with Hans playing his trumpet, comfortably seated on the toilet, with his trousers neatly resting around his ankles, as he looks out to nature through the wide open door.  Kerstin listens intently as she potters around in the garden. The audience loves it and laughs out loud with great anticipation on what else is in store for them.

When Kerstin is rowing over to a little island to pick some berries, Hans decides to surprise his wife with a hand baked sponge cake. He is the type of man that makes quick decisions not always bothering with the details but always with good intentions at heart. Soon Hans realises that he mixed up two different recipes and that he added potato instead of regular flour. Licking some dough from his finger, he decides that it tastes good and is not deterred from putting it in the oven. Half the cake ends up sticking to the form which Hans carefully scratches out to put on the other broken half of the cake. A few preserved pears on top and Kerstin won’t notice a thing. Read the rest of this entry »