Happiness - All apologies

Released on Valentine’s Day in 2014, All Apologies is a music video for the Swedish band Happiness, directed by Swedish filmmaker Adam Berg. Set at a wake, the film centres on an elderly couple who quietly dance together while their family and friends gather around them. Rather than portraying romance through the familiar language of youth and passion, the film explores love through grief, ageing and acceptance. The idea came from the band, who wanted to approach love and longing from a different perspective: a story about accepting something that has been lost.

The couple’s dance becomes the emotional centre of the film. Around them, an increasingly uncomfortable family drama unfolds: people argue, children attempt to take care of their parents, and tension and resentment fill the room. Yet the couple remain completely absorbed in each other, creating an intimate moment of tenderness amid the chaos. The relationships are never explicitly explained, allowing the viewer to construct their own understanding of what has happened. As Berg put it, the ambition was to tell a universal story in a personal way, trusting the audience to decide what it means to them.

The simplicity of the film was also reflected in the way it was made. Berg shot the entire piece in one day at an Elks Lodge in Van Nuys, Los Angeles, using the location and many of the people he encountered there. There were no storyboards or rehearsals. Only the elderly couple were specifically cast; the remaining performers were found among extras and people connected to the location. As filming developed, Berg assigned roles according to the performers’ natural reactions. The woman playing the daughter, for instance, was initially an extra, but her emotional response immediately suggested a larger part.

Berg’s instinctive approach is particularly interesting given his reputation as one of Sweden’s leading commercial directors. Known for highly crafted visual work, he has created films for brands including Apple, IKEA, Nike, Mercedes-Benz and Volvo, while his celebrated Carousel for Philips won the Film Grand Prix at Cannes Lions in 2009. Across his career, his work has been recognised by Cannes Lions, D&AD, British Arrows, Clios and other major awards. All Apologies strips much of that technical spectacle away, instead relying on performance, atmosphere and a close observation of human behaviour.

Shot with long takes and a fluid camera, the film allows the action to unfold naturally in front of the lens. The existing lighting at the location was largely left untouched, while the image was later darkened to reinforce the song’s melancholy mood. The production itself grew out of another commercial shoot, with the crew staying an extra day and contributing their time to make the project possible. The result is a restrained but deeply cinematic film, one that finds its impact not in spectacle, but in the quiet persistence of two people choosing to dance together while everything around them begins to fall apart.