Introduction
This time last year, I set off for a study abroad placement at Lund University in Sweden, as part of my film studies university degree. It ended up being an amazing experience, one that I've been looking back on very fondly since finishing around two months ago, and upon reflection, as you may expect, there are many observations to be made. I've thought plenty about the academic side as well as broader factors relating to the lifestyle and nature of this new country, mainly because I've had to write several papers and reports about such for my home university, but, something I haven't had the chance to properly reflect on, which I thought would be perfect to discuss here, are my experiences with cinema on my year abroad.
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| Lund Cathedral |
Now, let me clarify exactly what I mean by this. When I say cinema in Sweden, I don't mean my experiences with films from the country. Even though I've become more adversed in Swedish cinema through some of the courses I took at Lund along with further material I subsequently sought out (Sjöström, Bergman, Östlund, etc.), much like the other broader factors of my exchange, I've already thought plenty about those in the form of writing numerous university assignments as well as some Letterboxd reviews, so I can't say I'm itching to relay any of that onto here. Instead, what I'm referring to is the physical act of going to the cinema while in Sweden; when preparing to move abroad, I was thinking about all the aspects of my day-to-day life in the UK and how they would compare to their respective equivalents in this new environment. There was obviously much to consider here, but one thing I was looking forward to trying was visiting the cinema, not only because I do so around three or four times a month at home, thus making it a key part of my everyday life, but also since I'd never been to the cinema abroad prior to starting my exchange, so I was intrigued to see what it would be like compared to what I was used to. Well, having wrapped up my time abroad, I've made a couple interesting observations and have had many fabulous experiences with the big screen in Sweden, so let's get into discussing them!
The Differences
Okay, let's start by answering the main question: is going to the cinema in Sweden any different from doing so in the UK? Simply put, not really. There are obviously some contextual differences (which I'll get into shortly), but, for the most part, there's not an awful lot that differs, and I don't think that's really to be taken as much of a revelation. You see, prior to starting my exchange, I was mentally preparing myself for an overwhelming and difficult process of adjusting to a new country and culture, simply because the prospect of going to live abroad for a year was quite a daunting one, and it was therefore easy for my irrational thoughts to get the better of me. But, after about a week or two in Sweden, it was quite easy to settle in, partially because I quickly got used to the unique aspects at hand as they became normal parts of my day-to-day life, but also because many things simply weren't that dissimilar from back home. This applies to the process of visiting the cinema; despite being on different soil, it functions in practically the same way: you go in, buy yourself a ticket, grab some popcorn, take a seat, and enjoy a film on a big screen. Furthermore, the films being shown (which I'll also delve more into shortly) were mostly the same selection as the ones I'd have had available back in the UK, and their release dates were generally around the same times too. It sounds quite silly to have expected these things to not be the case in some way, but believe me, it was at one point quite easy to get carried away and expect everything to be radically different from what I was used to.
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| Salong 1 at Filmstaden Lund |
Despite this, there are a couple of minor differences that I couldn't help but notice. As someone who likes to keep their physical cinema tickets after a showing, a small thing that stood out to me was the shape of such at the cinemas I went to. They were obviously still rectangular, but orientated horizontally instead of vertically, making them feel less like the shopping receipt-esque tickets you usually get in the UK and more reminiscent of traditional cinema ticket stubs. As a result, collecting and displaying them became far more enjoyable (don't worry, I'll show off my collection later on). A slightly more substantial yet similarly welcome difference is what the adverts shown before films are like in Sweden. In the UK, I cannot stand how long the block of adverts and trailers at cinemas goes on for; the standard nowadays seems to be about thirty minutes, which is ridiculous, so much so that the allocated time on your ticket is often considerably far off the start of the film itself, giving some people the impression that you don't need to arrive at the cinema in time for that (which frustrates someone like me that prefers to be on time no matter what). In the Swedish cinemas I visited, while you still have your adverts and trailers, they're handled far better. Typically, the block of them is no more than fifteen or twenty minutes long, but, best of all, they start rolling around ten minutes before the allocated start of the showing, meaning that you've only got a short time to wait before the actual film if you arrive in time for that allocation. Alternatively, if you're ridiculously early (which I tend to be), it means you don't have to wait around in the foyer for long before the auditorium is ready to go. I didn't really notice the depth of this difference until my first cinema trips back at home, as it felt like the adverts just went on forever and ever when framed against what I was becoming accustomed to in Sweden. What's also nice is that they don't strictly separate the plain commercials and film trailers like in the UK; they often start with a trailer, then almost alternate between them and the regular adverts from then on. This makes the latter point even better because, since I was almost always there from the start of the adverts block, it meant I didn't have to trudge through the uninteresting commercials before getting to the trailers that I do enjoy watching. Although nothing remarkable, these differences were nonetheless quite pleasant to discover.
The Difficulties
Now, let's discuss those aforementioned contextual differences. The main factor I'll focus on is one I'm sure you're curious about, that being language. The national language of Sweden is, big surprise, Swedish, though mostly everyone there is practically fluent in English as well. Because of this, whenever a film featuring non-Swedish dialogue is shown at one of their cinemas, it's typically shown in its original language, but with all dialogue and on-screen text subtitled in Swedish. Based on the showings available at the cinemas I went to, it seems this is more common than Swedish dubs of foreign films, as the latter seemed to be reserved just for films aimed at younger audiences that may struggle with reading subtitles. However, even when dubbed versions were available, it was almost always alongside original language versions. As someone who can only speak English (but has been giving Swedish a try via Duolingo), this meant I would only be able to see films that were either entirely or mostly in English, as anything in other languages would be translated into a form I wouldn't understand.
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| Foyer at Filmstaden Bergakungen |
Thankfully, most of the new releases I was interested in seeing that came out during my exchange were films where this was the case. For instance, The Holdovers, Poor Things, and Civil War are just a few of the many films that were entirely in English and presented no language issues whatsoever, and The Creator and Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire are examples of English-language films that were also perfectly easy to understand and follow despite featuring minor sections in different languages. There were also some English-language films where, for some reason, whenever any non-English dialogue was spoken, both the Swedish and English translations of such appeared on-screen. Two cases of this occurring were Meg 2: The Trench and The Fall Guy, which feature a few one-off scenes spoken in Chinese and French, respectively. During those scenes, two lots of translations came up on the screen, and while it was certainly a bit cluttered, I thought it worked just fine! What's curious about this is that Meg 2 was the first film I saw at the cinema in Sweden, leading me to assume that this was the standard practice for subtitling, though I came to realise such was the exception as opposed to the rule with the trips that followed. Another film I saw, Robot Dreams, offered a truly unique experience in that the way it was subtitled was no different from how it would have been subtitled in the UK, that is to say, there wasn't any! This film features no dialogue whatsoever, removing the need for any subtitles and thus providing what's probably the closest to a normal cinema screening I had during my exchange.
Unfortunately, there were some new releases I had to miss out on due to the issue of language, namely awards big-hitters such as the substantially Korean-language Past Lives, and the largely German-language The Zone of Interest. Had I been in the UK, I certainly would've seen them in cinemas, but the situation I was in meant I'd likely have some trouble. The same would've been true of the Japanese-language The Boy and the Heron, but, after releasing in Sweden around November of last year, it made its way to the UK while I was visiting home for Christmas, so I was able to see it on the big screen then, though ironically in the English dub as that was the only available option at my local cinema. However, on some occasions, there were films I simply could not skip seeing in cinemas even if language barriers were at hand, which just so happened to be the situation with two of my most anticipated releases during my exchange, Killers of the Flower Moon and Dune: Part Two. Both seemingly feature an almost even split of scenes in English and another language (Osage for the former and the made-up Fremen language for the latter), but both were also films I was all too eager to see on the big screen. So, fully aware of a potentially tricky viewing experience, I took the plunge and went ahead with seeing them anyway...
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| Dune: Part Two poster at Filmstaden Lund |
My experiences with both films ended up being fairly similar; while I thoroughly enjoyed them and had some of the most memorable cinema experiences during my exchange with each (which I'll elaborate on later), there's no denying that they had some long stretches that were difficult to fully appreciate. That said, in both cases, it really only boils down to missing out on hearing what was being said in itself rather than struggling to follow or engage in the films as a result. With Flower Moon, it didn't seem like anything crucial to the plot was expressed during the scenes in Osage, as most of them were more focused on the wider mood and atmosphere, which was easy to register based on how the actors behaved beyond what they were saying, along with everything operating around them. I remember discussing this very issue with the people I saw the film with, neither of whom could speak Swedish either, and both agreed they also had minimal difficulty following along in spite of such. As for Dune, it is true that some crucial plot details seemed to be contained within the Fremen-language scenes, but it didn't affect me so much as I'd previously read the original Dune novel and generally knew the outline of the story. Moreover, the mood of each scene was once again a key driving force and similarly easy to register even if what exactly was being said was going over my head. I do intend on rewatching both films with English subtitles at some point so I can get the most out of them, but the lack of such evidently didn't spoil my experiences with them too drastically, which perhaps speaks to just how expertly made they are. In fact, I had some fun with the Swedish subtitles while watching Dune, as by that point I'd been doing Duolingo for a few months and could actually extract some of the basic meaning from what was appearing on screen, which was honestly quite a cool feeling even if it was far from perfect.
Just to clarify, this isn't to be taken as me complaining about the situation I encountered regarding language, as I respect that there's obviously no reason whatsoever for Swedish cinemas to accommodate people that don't speak their national language when showing films, and nor should there be. What I'm more trying to articulate here is how I was able to work around the limitations presented by my own abilities, in this case, my inability to speak any language aside from English. While this factor may have been frustrating at times, I can't complain because it's not something that can be argued with, it's just the way things are and have every right to be. All I could do as an outsider was respect that and try my best to adapt wherever possible, and I think it was mostly fine in the end.
The Venues
For this next section, I'd like to talk about the specific cinemas I visited and what I made of them. As mentioned, the university I studied at was in Lund, a city in the very south of Sweden that's primarily known for its university and is mainly built around such; think Oxford or Cambridge as a UK counterpart. It's home to two cinemas, one being a multiplex and the other independent, and these were the ones I visited the most. The multiplex belongs to the cinema chain Filmstaden, which to me seemed like the Swedish equivalent to Odeon, having a similarly ubiquitous presence across its country, also being priced on the more expensive end, and, at one point in time, also shoving their logo into the infamous Nicole Kidman advert. Their Lund cinema has seven screens, and I made it into most of them throughout the year, with Screen 6 (or Salong 6, as it's known in Swedish) being the only one I didn't see anything in. The sizes of the screens were decent, and their largest, Salong 1, was housed in a beautiful, old-fashioned auditorium, unlike the rest which were all very contemporary. As far as local cinemas go, this was about as much as I could ask for.
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| Filmstaden Lund exterior |
But, as mentioned, that was not Lund's only cinema, as they also had a smaller, independent venue known as Kino. This only had two screens, though one of them was actually quite large, and it was a fair bit cheaper than Filmstaden as well with a lovely student discount. Being independent enabled some film viewings that probably wouldn't have been possible elsewhere; for example, my first trip there was to see David Fincher's The Killer, which, as a Netflix film, had a very limited theatrical release. What was also particularly sweet about this place is that it belongs to a network called Europa Cinemas, which is what my local cinema at home in London is also a part of. This made it feel a little closer to home, as they showed the same promotional video before each film.
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| Filmstaden Bergakungen exterior |
Beyond Lund, I did a lot of travelling during my exchange, and while exploring some other cities, I couldn't help but visit their cinemas, espeically if I was there for more than one day. I mainly went to other Filmstaden cinemas, specifically those in Gothenburg and Örebro, and I also got to try a different cinema chain called Biostaden while visiting Kalmar, though I would guess it's operated by the same company as Filmstaden since their showtimes were available on the same website / app. These were all as nice as the Lund one, with the best easily being the Filmstaden Bergakungen in Gothenburg, home to what I believe is Sweden's only commercial IMAX screen, which, while not a traditional 70mm one, was just as awesome and immersive as others I've been to in the past. It's cool to have been to an IMAX cinema abroad, and I especially had a lot of fun listening to the pre-show in Swedish since I've heard it many times English! I'll discuss what I saw there soon, but I'm sure it'll come as no surprise...
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| Palads Copenhagen exterior |
The one other cinema I went to was actually in a different country, that being Denmark, as its captial city, Copenhagen, is only an hour on the train from Lund. I love this city, and, since it was so close by, I visited a few times during my exchange, be it for activities such as visiting the Tivoli theme park or shopping at their large Lego shops. But, on one of my visits, I impulsively decided to try a lovely looking cinema near to the central train station named the Palads, and it was just as lovely on the inside, with stylish and modern auditoriums alongside a more traditional, almost regal atmosphere elsewhere, as indicated by the exterior. It gave me similar vibes to the Empire in Leicester Square, so perhaps think of it as Copenhagen's equivalent to that. The impulsive nature of my visit meant I didn't have the chance to check what the language situation was there beforehand, but I was quick to find out it was practically no different from the neighbouring country, as the film I saw there, the Mean Girls remake, was shown in its original English form but with Danish subtitles, which was a relief. I was hoping to visit this cinema again at some point since it was fairly nearby, but sadly never got around to it, though I may try to if I ever go back to Copenhagen, which I hope I eventually will.
The Highlights
To finish off, I thought I'd recount some of the very best experiences I had at the cinema in Sweden, some of which I've already alluded to. As mentioned, Meg 2: The Trench was my first cinema trip abroad, and while the film itself wasn't particularly good, I do have a soft spot for it since the new experience at the time was somewhat surreal and formed the basis of the observations I've detailed here. But, it was merely the beginning of many!
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| Me seeing Meg 2: The Trench at Filmstaden Lund |
While I mostly opt to go to the cinema alone out of convenience, there were times when it proved to be an enjoyable social activity. While
living abroad, my family came out to visit on several occasions, and,
on some of their visits, I took them to the cinema, as they were keen to
see what it was like to do so abroad almost as much as I was. This
included seeing A Haunting in Venice with my Mum, which was nice as we'd
previously enjoyed the other Kenneth Branagh Poirot films together, and
seeing Dev Patel's Monkey Man with my brother and sister, which was a
ton of fun. Additionally, the cinema presented itself as a good way to spend time with some of the people I met
while studying abroad, with one friend in particular, a fellow film enjoyer
from the USA, accompanying me on many cinema trips. As a result, we had a lot of
memorable viewings and discussions, whether it was disagreeing on just how good The Creator was,
completely tearing apart the terrible Five Nights at Freddy's
after seeing it for a laugh, or me listening to him very passionately point out each and every
historical inaccuracy in Ridley Scott's Napoleon.
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| Me seeing The Shining at Kino Lund |
However, there's no competition for the best experience the two of us had at the cinema together. On Halloween night, the Kino cinema was showing The Shining, a film I'd seen only once about five years prior and wasn't so keen on, but was convinced to go along and see on the big screen by my friend since it was one of his all-time favourites. We found ourselves in a packed and buzzing auditorium, and proceeded to have just the most brilliant time with the film! It was a lot better than I remembered, and I think the context of where I was seeing it helped me in my reevaluation. I couldn't tell you how many times I was sat on the edge of my seat despite knowing where the story ends up! Definitely one of the highlights of my exchange, even outside of film-related things.
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| Entrance to the IMAX auditorium at Filmstaden Bergakungen |
Another highlight of my exchange outside of film-related things would be my multiple experiences with what was one of my most anticipated films of 2024, that being the aforementioned Dune: Part Two. I first went to see this on opening night in the largest auditorium at the Filmstaden in Lund, once again with a packed audience. Despite the language issues I discussed, I had a phenomenal time with the film, which completely immersed me for its near-three hour runtime, causing me to completely forget about everything going on in the outside world at the time. In particular, I had an exam coming up in a few weeks, and after that was done and dusted, I treated myself with a weekend trip to Gothenburg, one of the largest cities in Sweden. I wanted to go to this city not just because it's a popular place to visit in the country, but also because of its IMAX cinema, and what better film to see on such than Dune: Part Two! On this second viewing, it was just as great, and especially neat to have seen in IMAX given the epic spectacle on display, and also since that's the way I saw the first Dune film. It made this trip a lot more special than others because the place I was visiting had some sentimental value instead of merely being somewhere nice to spend some time.
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| Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes display at Filmstaden Lund |
Every year since cinemas have reopened post-pandemic, I've seen a film at the cinema on my birthday. In 2021, it was Judas and the Black Messiah, in 2022, it was Everything Everywhere All at Once, and in 2023, it was Fast X. My birthday this year was near the end of my exchange, just after I'd handed in my final assignment, meaning I had the perfect chance to celebrate it with a Swedish cinema trip. I chose to see Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, another highly anticipated film of mine, and I had yet another great time with it. It was a nice thing to have done on the day, even more so when it turned out to be my final trip to the Filmstaden in Lund. My final cinema trip on my exchange overall ended up being with Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, which I saw while visiting Kalmar, a city on the south-east coast of Sweden. Controversially, I didn't like the film so much, but it was still a fine way to go out with my big screen experiences in Sweden, especially since the cinema in Kalmar was somewhat unique with a slightly vintage feel about it.
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| Salong 1 at Biostaden Kalmar |
Conclusion
Well, that's just about all I have to say. There was always going to be a lot for me to process after spending a year in another country, but as a film fan, I think my experiences with going to the cinema in Sweden will go down as some of my most notable and memorable. It's been quite fun to sit down and write this retrospective, not only for allowing me to fully make something of all that I've observed and experienced, but also for bringing back a ton of great memories and making me realise how grateful I am to have had this opportunity. I hope this isn't the last of my experiences with cinemas in other countries, and, should I get the chance to enjoy more of such, I may well be back here to write something further on this topic. But for now, that's it from me... hejdå!
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| My collection of tickets for the cinema trips throughout my exchange |
If you'd like to know more specific thoughts of mine about some of the films I've mentioned today, head over to my Letterboxd (@Jack W) where you'll find brief reviews for most of them. I'm certainly a lot more active on there than I am on here, it seems.
