Christmas Oratorio

Running time: N/A

Solveig has a dream. She wants her tiny church choir to one day perform Bach's Christmas Oratorio. Not only is Solveig the one true singer in the choir,but also she is the one true light of her husband's and son's lives. Tragically, her light is snuffed too soon, leaving her dream unfulfilled and her husband and son to search for the light elsewhere. Eventually Solveig's husband, Aron, falls in love with a woman he has met only through the mail. The longing for the light he once knew with Solveig slowly tears him away from reality. Aron abandons his son, Sidner, and travels to Tessa in Australia. Sidner eventually finds comfort and a glimpse of the light he lost with a series of women, finally becoming a man with his eccentric ''Aunt'' Fanny. Through this act, he brings forth a the third generation in his son Victor. Kjell-Ake Andersson has translated Goran Tunstrom's classic novel to the screen in marvelous fashion. Christmas Oratorio is the story of three generations of men, all deeply affected by the tragic death of a wonderful woman. Solveig's death was certainly tragic, but her legacy is ultimately as glorious as the dream her grandson finally fulfills. Solveig's same tiny church blazes with the light of the Christmas Oratorio. --Rodger Hughes