My Life as a Dog (1985) on Netflix
In 1950s Sweden, twelve-year-old Ingemar and his brother wear down their ill mother with their fighting. He is sent to his uncle Gunnar in a small Småland town without his dog Sickan.
- Netflix4.4/5
- IMDb7.6/1023,097 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes100%
Trailer
Plot summary
Sweden, 1958. Twelve-year-old Ingemar runs wild with his dog Sickan, and his roughhousing with his older brother Erik falls on their single mother, who is ill. The brothers are separated and sent to relatives so she can rest. Ingemar goes to his uncle Gunnar and Gunnar's wife Ulla in a small town in Småland, near a glassworks, and is told Sickan will go to a kennel instead of coming with him. He and Gunnar build a backyard summer house and play a Povel Ramel record that Ulla cannot stand. Around him are the town's eccentrics: Saga, a tomboy his age who boxes him, Fransson hammering his roof, and Mr. Arvidsson, who has Ingemar read aloud from a lingerie catalog. Ingemar also follows the fate of Laika, the Soviet dog sent into orbit.
Cast
- Kicki Rundgrenas moster Ulla
- Leif Ericsonas farbror Sandberg (as Leif Ericsson)
- Viveca Dahlénas tvättande kvinna
Show all 19 cast
- Manfred Serneras Ingemar's Older Brother Erik
- Jan-Philip Hollströmas Manne, the boy with green hair
- Arnold Alfredssonas Mannes farfar (as Arnold Alfredson)
- Fritz Elofssonas Mäster
- Didrik Gustafssonas Arvidsson, dying old man befriended by Ingmar (as Didrik Gustavsson)
- Per Ottossonas Tommy
- Magnus Raskas Fransson
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about My Life as a Dog (1985)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- My Life as a Dog became a critical and commercial success with American audiences, a rare feat for a subtitled foreign-language film at the time. That international success launched Swedish director Lasse Hallström's Hollywood career, leading him to direct What's Eating Gilbert Grape and The Cider House Rules.
