Karen Joyce

There are clearly some significant underlying political and social themes of this film. It is unneccessarily gory, stretching out death and sex in a way most Americans find both appalling and enticing, but also addresses a number of relevant current issues that Swedes and Europeans deal with differently than Americans: loss and grief; male centered attitudes about partnership being solely for sexual fulfillment, unwilling to deal with the "drama" in real relationships; dealing with elderly; racial bias and the outsider.