The Velvet Café

Lars Lerin is a successful Swedish painter. When it comes to love he’s been less fortunate. He’s been searching all over the world for someone, but it never seems to work out. One day he meets a Brazilian dancer over Internet.

This is the beginning of an unusual and unlikely story about two men who without knowing a lot about each other and defying an immense language barrier decide to meet up and see what happens.

The narrator is Lerin’s goddaughter Sara Broos, who on her own has written, directed, shot, edited and produced the documentary For You Naked, which is quite an achievement in itself. (I picture her as one of those one-man orchestras where someone excels in playing drums, a string instrument and a trumpet at the same time.)

Sweetness and darkness
Do you remember Colin Firth’s storyline in Love Actually? He’s the author who falls in love with a Portuguese householder, despite the fact that they don’t understand a word of what the other one says. This is a bit like this with the difference that it’s for real. It’s very beautiful and sweet – but also upfront honest about the difficulties they face. Since there’s more time available for this story (in Love Actually it was just one out of seven, competing for space), we also get to know the Colin Firth character a little bit better. He’s not all sunshine and romance. There’s a darkness luring inside him, a constant threat to the budding relationship. As a viewer you keep asking yourself: will this hold up?

This is a wonderful little documentary, which has gotten quite a bit of attention in Sweden, possibly partly thanks to Lerin’s popularity as a painter, but also because it’s such a good story. Judging from the IMDb page, it seems as if it barely has reached outside of the Swedish borders at all, which I think is a pity. In the unlikely event that you’ll get the chance to see it, I recommend that you grab it.

For You Naked (För dig Naken, Sara Broos SWE 2012) My rating: 4/5