Swedish duo Filip Hammar and Fredrik Wikingsson directed and starred in the documentary The Last Journey. In the film, Sweden’s submission to the International Feature Oscar race, Hammar and Wikingsson take Hammar’s father, Lars, a retired teacher, on a road trip through France to help him deal with his depression.
Hammar said at Deadline’s Contenders Film: Documentary awards-seasons showcase that he realized the trip and the film reflected a journey he himself needed to take to accept his aging parents.
“In the end, this film is more about my journey than my dad’s journey in many ways,” Hammar said. “Accepting the fact that he’s never going to be the guy he once used to be. I started out wanting him to find his spark again, wanted him to maybe just be my dad as I remember him. But with this trip, I think I’ve come to notice that, well, this is a different chapter and it’s one of the last chapters with him.”
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Wikingsson agreed. In planning the trip for Lars, he was planning as much for Filip too.
“All these things that we stage for Filip’s dad to experience what he wants experience, there is a component there that Filip wants also to relive these moments before it’s too late,” Wikingsson said. “I think that those moments are as much about Filip as they are about his dad.”
The limits of Lars’ age came into focus early in the journey when Lars takes a fall in the hotel room. Filip realized an inevitable role reversal had occurred.
“After he had fallen at the beginning of the trip, he had peed his pants,” Hammar said. “Those things are tough to talk about. When you’re a child, your parents take care of you when you peed your pants or whatever. And it’s cyclical in a way. It’s full circle in the end.”
The Last Journey includes those honest moments, but overall it is a comedy. Wikingsson said it is in the duo’s nature to see the humor in Lars and Filip’s relationship.
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“For us, it’s important to tell this is a real story about something that is serious and heavy, but with a light touch that maybe lowers the threshold for people to watch it and feel even more.” Wikingsson said.
Hammar said accepting his father’s limitations has actually improved their relationship as a result of the film.
“Now we have a better relationship because I don’t constantly try to push him to be who he once was,” Hammar said. “It’s less stressful to him at least. So I can just like, ‘Okay, dad, let’s talk about whatever you want. Let’s talk a little bit about your ailments, but also about soccer, whatever.’”
The filmmakers hope The Last Journey makes audience members call their parents after it’s over. Since the film opened in Sweden in March, Hammar has received word that they have.
“There was a woman at the premiere actually who told me that she ran out of hankies so she started using Tampax instead just to wipe the tears away,” Hammar said. “That’s something for the poster: Bring handkerchief and Tampax. I’m not sure if that’s maybe too complicated.”
Check back Monday for the panel video.
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