''Livet är en schlager'' (''Life is a Schlager'', also known as ''Once in a Lifetime'' or ''Hånden på hjertet'' in Danish) is a Swedish film released in 2000, written by

Jonas Gardell Lars Jonas Holger Gardell (born 2 November 1963) is a Swedish novelist, playwright, screenwriter and comedian. He is the brother of religion scholar Mattias Gardell. He is well known for his books and plays in all of Scandinavia and his books h ...

and directed by his usual directing partner

Susanne Bier Susanne Bier (; born 15 April 1960) is a Danish filmmaker. Bier is the first female director to collectively receive an Academy Award (Academy Award for Best International Feature Film, Foreign Film), a Golden Globe Award, a European Film Award ...

. The film features cameo appearances by many Swedish singers. The film was produced by

Nordisk Film Nordisk Film A/S () is a Danish entertainment company involved in film production and distribution and a subsidiary of Egmont Group. The multimedia entertainment company is also involved in television production, cinemas, computer games and ...

and

Sveriges Television Sveriges Television AB ("Sweden's Television aktiebolag, Stock Company"), shortened to SVT (), is the Sweden, Swedish national public broadcasting, public television broadcaster, funded by a public service tax on personal income set by the Riksd ...

in association with

Sonet Film Bonnier AB (), also the Bonnier Group, is a privately held Swedish media group of 175 companies operating in 15 countries. It is controlled by the Bonnier family. Background The company was founded in 1804 by Gerhard Bonnier in Copenhagen, Denm ...

and TV2 Denmark.

Plot

The film is based around the life of Mona Berglund, a mother-of-four obsessed with the

Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest (), often known simply as Eurovision, is an international Music competition, song competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) among its members since 1956. Each participating broadcaster ...

- so much so, that her house is decorated with posters of her idols, and she has named her children after Swedish Eurovision performers: Kikki, Anna Book, Lena PH and

Carola Carola is a female given name, the Latinized form of the Germanic given names Caroline or Carol. People named Carola include: Acting * Carola Braunbock (1924–1978), Czech-born East German actress * Carola Höhn (1910–2005), German actre ...

. Her partner Bosse is unemployed, and she is left to feed the family. Her brother, Candy, is a transvestite and an

AIDS The HIV, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a retrovirus that attacks the immune system. Without treatment, it can lead to a spectrum of conditions including acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). It is a Preventive healthcare, pr ...

-sufferer who designs clothes. David, Mona's employer has

cerebral palsy Cerebral palsy (CP) is a group of movement disorders that appear in early childhood. Signs and symptoms vary among people and over time, but include poor coordination, spasticity, stiff muscles, Paresis, weak muscles, and tremors. There may b ...

and is a proficient songwriter, and composes a song which Mona steals and sends a demo of (with her own lyrics) into

Melodifestivalen Melodifestivalen (; ) is an annual song competition organised by Swedish public broadcasters Sveriges Television (SVT) and Sveriges Radio (SR). It determines the country's representative for the Eurovision Song Contest, and has been staged almo ...

, the Swedish heats for the Eurovision contest. Much to Mona's delight, the song qualifies for the finals. Mona's new-found fame takes her to unexpected places, including a TV interview, and an invitation to lunch at Berns. Throughout, the film, though, Mona is torn as to whether she should reveal that she was not in fact the only writer of her song, and thus risk losing the public's support.

Music

The film features several songs by well-known Swedish singers, such as " If Life Was a Song", performed by

Carola Häggkvist Carola Maria Häggkvist (; born 8 September 1966), commonly known simply as Carola, is a Swedish singer and songwriter. She has been among Sweden's most popular performers since the early 1980s and has released albums ranging from pop and disco ...

, " I Believe in Miracles" performed by

Lena Philipsson Maria Magdalena Filipsson (born 19 January 1966), known by her stage name Lena Philipsson (), is a Swedish singer, songwriter and media personality. She represented Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest 2004, Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contes ...

and " Kärleksikonen" performed by Regina Lund. The film also features the song " Aldrig ska jag sluta älska dig", originally performed by

Helena Bergström Helena Kristina Bergström Nutley (; born 5 February 1964) is a Swedish actress and film director. From an acting family, she began her career in 1982. She has appeared on the stages of the Royal Dramatic Theatre (''Dramaten'') and the Stockhol ...

, which was later released by Gardell,

br>Musik
and "

Handen på hjärtat Handen (also known as Haninge Centrum) is a part of Metropolitan Stockholm and the seat of Haninge Municipality (Haninge Kommun) in Stockholm County in eastern Sweden. Handen had around 15 092 inhabitants in 2018. Geographically and statistically ...

" performed by Sofia Källgren. "Handen på hjärtat" was released on the soundtrack but was performed by

Björn Kjellman John Björn Sture Kjellman (born 4 June 1963) is a Swedish actor and singer. Kjellman was born in Östra Grevie, Scania. He played roles in Swedish movies like '' Klassfesten'' and '' Livet är en schlager'', in which he plays a Melodifestiva ...

feat. Salome.

Cast and characters

as Mona *

Jonas Karlsson Sven Bert Jonas Karlsson (born 11 March 1971) is a Swedish actor and author. Karlsson was born in Salem. He won a Guldbagge Award for Best Actor in 2004 for the movie '' Details''. He published his first book, a collection of short stories, i ...

as David *

as Candy Darling *

Thomas Hanzon Sven Thomas Hanzon (born 20 June 1962) is a Swedish actor, stage actor at the Royal Dramatic Theatre in Stockholm and former footballer. He has worked with Ingmar Bergman in both movies and on stage. Biography Early life and football career H ...

as Bosse * Sissela Kyle as Woman at the employment office *

Katarina Ewerlöf Annette Elsa Katarina Ewerlöf (born 28 December 1959) is a Sweden, Swedish actress. She began acting in theater when she was 13 years old at Vår teater, a children's theater in Stockholm. Ewerlöf was educated at the theater university at the S ...

as Moa, project manager * Regina Lund as Sabina * Douglas Johansson as Hairdresser * Jessica Zandén as Woman at the café *

Frida Hallgren Frida Sophia Hallgren (born 16 December 1974) is a Swedish actress, internationally known from '' As It Is in Heaven''. She got her start in acting as a child in Hasse Funck's children's acting school and participated in Vår teater, a childr ...

as TV engineer

References

External links

Review from Filmtipset.se
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Once In A Lifetime (2000 Film) 2000 films Swedish LGBTQ-related films Cross-dressing in film Films directed by Susanne Bier Nordisk Film films Films about the Eurovision Song Contest Melodifestivalen 2000s Swedish-language films 2000s Swedish films 2000 LGBTQ-related films