Strålande tider, härliga tider? Konsumtion av pilsnerfilmer och äldre svenska komiska filmer i en nutida kontext

Abstract

In Sweden there has been a surge of interest in the films classified as pilsnerfilms, i.e. comical films produced for little money in the 1930's and containing a more working class and/or rural setting then the so called "champagne comedies" from the same era. The concept "pilsnerfilm" is how ever a little vague and although the main focus of this paper is pilsnerfilms, it will also cover other types of comical films made in Sweden between the 1930's and 1940's. This paper examines the now-existing network of people interested in these types of movies. It will do so by interviewing seven of the most prominent fans of movies made during the 1930's and 1940's. Most of them are living in Stockholm. The paper discuss how through the consumption of these types of films, a nostalgic gaze is created. With a nostalgic gaze the enthusiasts for pilsnerfilms can in the present create a history of a bygone Sweden and they can also try to establish a form of contact with the actors in the movies from the 1930's and 1940's. The contact can be by collecting the movies, but more prominently the contact is even more grounded in a physical world, by having contact with still living actors who were active during that time or the now deceased actors relatives or by visiting the departed actors grave. The paper also discuss questions regarding cultural heritage and how the network thinks about the treatment the pilsnerfilms and other comical films from 1930's and 1940's have received from the owner's of the movies. Particularly the main company the owns the large majority of Swedish films; SF. It evokes questions regarding how to present movies as cultural heritage and which people should have to power to do that. The aspects brings the question of knowledge and feelings to mind. The network of enthusiasts can be viewed as a affective alliance, meaning it exists a emotional connection between cultural expression and individuals. It is the networks affective alliance that the connoisseur can organize it's knowledge. Emotions and knowledge can't be separated. To both have the right knowledge and the right emotions is crucial for the network. And through the networks emotions and knowledge, the fragments that create the story of pilsnerfilm is put together.