Bus to Italy

Bus to Italy or Road to Italy (Swedish: Buss till Italien) is a 2005 Swedish comedy-drama film directed by Daniel Lind Lagerlöf and written by Malin Lagerlöf. The film follows choir director Ylva (Livia Millhagen), who leaves on a trip to Italy shortly after discovering her husband having sex with their teenage babysitter. The film premiered in theaters on 16 December 2005 and received mixed reviews from critics.

Bus to Italy
Promotional poster
Swedish	Buss till Italien
Directed by	Daniel Lind Lagerlöf
Written by	Malin Lagerlöf
Starring	Livia Millhagen Karl Linnertorp [sv] Adam Pålsson
Release date	16 December 2005 (2005-12-16)
Country	Sweden
Language	Swedish

Plot

Ylva, a church choir director and mother-of-two, returns home early from rehearsal to find her husband having sex with their teenage babysitter. After confronting him at her 35th birthday party, she leaves on a previously planned bus trip to Italy with her choir. On the trip are two 17-year old boys, Erik and Ruben, who are attracted to Ylva.

Cast

• Livia Millhagen as Ylva
• Karl Linnertorp [sv] as Erik
• Adam Pålsson as Ruben
• Anna Lyons [sv] as Ia
• Johan Holmberg [sv] as Rikard
• Mats Andersson [sv] as Svante
• Marie Tilander as Lillemor

Production

Director Daniel Lind Lagerlöf expressed that the idea for the film came from his own experience when he was 16. He worked on the story with his wife, screenwriter Malin Lagerlöf.^[1] The pair had previously collaborated on the films Breaking Out (1999), Making Babies (2001), and Miffo (2003).^[2]

The film was shot on an actual journey.^[3] Parts were shot in Sweden, on a ferry to Germany, along an autobahn, and in Domodossola.^[4]

Release

Bus to Italy premiered in theaters on 16 December 2005.^[5]

Reception

The film earned an average rating of 2.8/5 on the Swedish review aggregator site Kritiker.^[6] It was praised by Gunnar Rehlin in Variety.^[3]Jens Peterson [sv] gave it a more mixed review in Aftonbladet, although he praised Millhagen's performance.^[7] It also received a mixed review from Jeanette Gentele [sv] in Svenska Dagbladet.^[8]