This was a really cool film. But I don't understand what was going on with the cradle. Whose was it, and why did nobody claim it on the train?
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Not french, somali. Though, alot of Somalis now english, or french depending on what part of Somalia they come from coz it was divided during the colonialism. But a larger group know english then french, but probably the majority know neither
shareThe cradle was owned by the father of one of the youngsters, and I think the point was to show the exposure to not be integrated in society (by language), even though swedes try very hard to help.
shareBut the father did speak Swedish, did he not?
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As far as I remember he didn't.
shareI watched the movie with english subtitles and the only parts that were not subtitled were the african dialogues (when the blacks turn to their own language to confuse others). The part where the father was at home and talking to his family was subtitled so I assumed he was speaking Swedish.
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I'll have to check that..
But if you see the movie, perhaps you can tell from the sound of it what language it is.
As a native Swedish speaker I can confirm that the father definitely wasn't speaking Swedish.
It sounded African (which makes sense), possibly Somali.
Yes, it is somali. And as I understood it so it would makes sense, he probably don't understand the announcement in swedish nor english. I guessed that it was the case from the beginning and i think the conductors where sharp in this case, but of course, it's probably not many swedes that do now somali. Myself, I just now a few words...
shareMy take on the cradle was that they were getting more and more annoyed with it, and finally said "We're getting rid of it" when they stop themselves, realising that it might be racist not to give people who don't understand Swedish the warning before doing so. It shows the feeling of never wanting to offend non-Swedes because that's how we are taught to behave in the Swedish society.
shareThe cradle is seen both in the apartment of the immigrants, and in the ending scene in the park. I believe the entire train scene has a subtle story to tell, although I'm not sure which.
A perhaps far reaching view on it is that it could be a metaphor for dealing with immigrants. The train could represent Sweden, the crew the authorities, the passengers the citizens and the cradle the immigrants.
They don't understand the purpose or presence of the cradle, and it is seen as a problem, so they decide to throw it out. While the owner (I think the black father) perhaps would have helped out if he understood the crew. The passengers only laughs at the situation, instead of helping out. The crew is not able to help, even though they want to.
I thought that it was the Somali mom who was on the train? When the Somali dad comes home his wife is cleaning the cradle and says that the kids messed it up.
Whether which one of them who was on the train - shouldn't someone of them seen through a window that the train crew was about to ditch the cradle? And then telling the crew that the cradle belongs to him/her?
One of the crew members comments that people aren't likely to notice the cradle being dragged off the train, perhaps sarcastically. I would say it's not unlikely that the cradle owner was sitting on the other side of the train and not watching the side where the cradle was being dragged off to. And not everyone looks out of the windows while riding the trains.
Also, why use a cradle for symbolism? is there more to the cradle than symbolism? I'm also confused by this cradle sub-plot...
To me it seemed like the cradle in itself wasn't meant to be symbolic, it was just a big clumsy item used as a plot device. However I noted a certain link between what happened on the train and the bus. Apparently it was a big deal for the bureaucratic train crew to get the cradle out of the way, and they wasted alot of energy and time to make it happen. However when people on the bus get robbed and beat no one, not even the driver, does a thing to help. Strange how we care so much about meaningless little things but when someone is hurt we just shut it out..
shareGreat point, expiry...
...added to the fact that, symbolically, the cradle stands for childbirth, i.e. children.
(Not calling the cops when asked, the langlaufer minding his own business, the unanswered phone calls...)
In the movie, the children's world is presented inside the adult's world as a parallel universe. Something that's only visible when it gets in the way, when it does something it's not supposed to.
Just like the cradle.
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