Kim Novak Never Swam in Genesaret's Lake

It is going to be a great summer, Edmund says. They can swim in the lake, go rowing in the boat, ride bikes on tracks in the beautiful countryside, read books, sneak a few cigarettes and maybe visit the dancing area in Lacka Park where children are not allowed. But it is also a summer of coming of age. Erik’s mother is dying of cancer in a hospice; Edmund’s mother is an alcoholic. What is the meaning of life anyway? The boys stay in the summerhouse with Erik’s elder brother Henry. He is a journalist who is writing an existential novel. He drives around in his black Beetle called Killer, listens to Buddy Holly and looks a lot like James Dean. And then Kim Novak arrives on the scene. Her real name is Ewa Kaludis; the boys’ new substitute teacher, she is engaged to Berra Albertsson, a tough guy and former star with the national handball team. But Henry is a tough guy too, just in a different way. And in the shadows, The Terror is waiting – the reason Erik can recall every detail of that summer even 30 years later. In Erik’s head, words keep going around – Cancer, Love, Sex, Death – concealing things that are just too big to comprehend. But the reality, the substance, behind every one of those words reveals itself to Erik and Edmund that summer – even physical love. It is wonderful; painfully wonderful. But that wonderful summer is heading towards a dark turning point. One beautiful and horrible morning someone is murdered. Someone must have struck the blow …and the time of innocence is gone forever. —Svensk Filmindustri