Waltz for Monica

Waltz for Monica (Swedish: Monica Z) is a Swedish biographical drama film directed by Per Fly.^[1] It is based on the life and career of the singer and actress Monica Zetterlund, portrayed by Edda Magnason. The film was released theatrically in Sweden on 13 September 2013.^[2]

Waltz for Monica
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Per Fly
Written by	Peter Birro
Produced by	Lena Rehnberg
Starring	Edda Magnason Kjell Bergqvist Sverrir Gudnason Nadja Christiansson Vera Vitali David Hellenius Oskar Thunberg Johannes Wanselow Cecilia Ljung Fredrik Lindborg Ralph Bernard Randal D. Ingram Jonathan Drew Amelia Fowler
Cinematography	Eric Kress
Edited by	Åsa Mossberg
Music by	Peter Nordahl
Production company	StellaNova Film
Distributed by	Svensk Filmindustri
Release dates	10 August 2013 (2013-08-10) (Way Out West) 13 September 2013 (2013-09-13) (Sweden)
Running time	111 minutes
Country	Sweden
Languages	Swedish English

Plot

Monica makes it from a telephone operator to a national celebrity. But fame and party life take their toll.

Cast

• Edda Magnason as Monica Zetterlund
• Sverrir Gudnason as Sture Åkerberg
• Kjell Bergqvist as Monica's father
• Cecilia Ljung as Monica's mother
• Vera Vitali as Marika
• Johannes Wanselow as Beppe Wolgers
• Oskar Thunberg as Vilgot Sjöman
• Randal D. Ingram as Bill Evans
• Rob Morgan as Miles Davis
• Amelia Fowler as Ella Fitzgerald
• Clinton Ingram as Tommy Flanagan
• Harry Friedländer as Hasse Alfredson
• Andréa Ager-Hanssen as Lena Nyman

Reception

Waltz for Monica received generally positive reviews. In Sweden, Kulturnyheterna on SVT gave it a 4 out of 5^{[citation needed]} and especially praised Magnason's performance.^[3] Svenska Dagbladet also praised Magnason's performance, giving the film a 4 out of 6.^[4] MovieZine also liked the film, giving it 4 out of 5.^[5] Many newspapers gave the film with a 4 out of 5, among them Aftonbladet,^[6] Expressen,^[7] Göteborgs-Posten^[8] and Metro.^[9] However, the film was criticized by the documentary filmmaker Tom Alandh, who wrote an article in the newspaper Dagens Nyheter where he objected to the film's negative portrayal of Zetterlund's father.^[10]

Waltz for Monica received 11 Guldbagge Award nominations.

Soundtrack

A soundtrack album of the film was released by Universal Music, charting in various Scandinavian charts, notably Sweden, Finland and Denmark.

Track listing

1. "Sakta vi gå genom stan"
2. "Hit The Road Jack"
3. "Monica's vals"
4. "O vad en liten gumma kan gno"
5. "En gång i Stockholm"
6. "It Could Happen to You"
7. "Gröna små äpplen"
8. "Trubbel"
9. "Du"
10. "Bedårande sommarvals"
11. "I Can't Give You Anything But Love"
12. "I New York"
13. "Monica Z – Svit ur filmen"

Charts

Chart (2014)	Peak position
Danish Albums (Hitlisten)[11]	29
Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)[12]	50
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[13]	3

References

1. Jorn Rossing Jensen (28 October 2011). "Per Fly to shoot Monica Z's biopic". Cineuropa. Retrieved 2 October 2022.
   - "Waltz for Monica - Having it all comes at a price". Svensk Filmindustri. Archived from the original on 15 August 2013. Retrieved 2 October 2022.
2. "Monica Z (2013)" (in Swedish). Svensk Filmdatabas. 13 September 2013. Retrieved 2 October 2022.
3. "Recension: "Monica Z"" [Review: "Monica Z"]. SVT (in Swedish). 11 September 2013. Retrieved 2 October 2022.
4. Karoline Eriksson (12 September 2013). "Magnason hittar det rätta djupet" [Magnason finds the right depth]. Svenska Dagbladet (in Swedish). Retrieved 2 October 2022.
5. Jake Bolin (2 July 2013). "Det svänger ordentligt" [It swings just the right depth]. MovieZine (in Swedish). Retrieved 2 October 2022.
6. Jan-Olov Andersson (2 September 2013). "De ger Monica Z kött och blod på ett underbart vis" [They give Monica Z flesh and blood in a wonderful way]. Aftonbladet (in Swedish). Retrieved 2 October 2022.
7. Maria Brander (27 August 2013). ""Monica Z"". Expressen (in Swedish). Retrieved 2 October 2022.
8. Johnson, Mats (13 September 2013). "Monica Z". Göteborgs-Posten (in Swedish). Retrieved 23 June 2018.
9. Karlsson, CG (13 September 2013). "Recension: "Monica Z"" [Review: "Monica Z"]. Metro (in Swedish). Retrieved 23 June 2018.
10. Tom Alandh (16 September 2013). "En hygglig människa har svärtats" [A decent person has been slandered]. Dagens Nyheter (in Swedish). Retrieved 2 October 2022.
11. "Danishcharts.dk – Soundtrack / Edda Magnason – Monica Z". Hung Medien. Retrieved 28 March 2014.
12. "Elokuvamusiikki: Monica Z" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved 23 June 2018.
13. "Swedishcharts.com – Soundtrack / Edda Magnason – Monica Z". Hung Medien. Retrieved 28 March 2014.

External links

• Waltz for Monica at IMDb 
• Waltz for Monica at AllMovie
• Waltz for Monica at the Swedish Film Institute Database