An Appreciation for Scandinavian Films... (1 Viewer)

[CraigF]

^ Yeah, I didn't forget, see my previous post (which I was indirectly responding to) from several months ago...and that's why I can't remember what films I had in mind.

And note that Headhunters isn't Headhunter, which your comment is more closely related to. So don't get Headhunter by mistake.

Edit: I pulled my copy of Headhunters, it's a Canadian version, and it's rated 18A for "violence and sexual content". So you might be right anyway...I don't even remember that part, been a couple of years since I watched it, so I think I'm due for a re-watch.

 

[Mike Frezon]

Peg abhors horror, scary, action/adventure films.

^ Yeah, I didn't forget, see my previous post (which I was indirectly responding to) from several months ago...and that's why I can't remember what films I had in mind.

Yeah. And that's on me.

I'm stymied as to how I could have missed your post back then.

 

[PMF]

I love all films that are "Scan" related.

 

[Mike Frezon]

Open questions to anyone who has seen Elling...

I just found out that two other "Elling" movies starring Per Christian Ellefsen have been made.

The next was a prequel (with a different director) called Mother's Elling. The third was called Elling: Love Me Tomorrow directed by Peter Naess (the director of Elling).

Has anyone seen them?

And, I cannot find Region 1 DVDs of them. I can only find an Italian DVD of the third film. Any input on that? (I'm okay with an import as I'm region-free.)

EDIT: But I cannot tell if the Italian DVD of the third film has English subititles!

 

[Mike Frezon]

It only looks like Italian subtitles, right?!?

 

[titch]

Open questions to anyone who has seen Elling...

I just found out that two other "Elling" movies starring Per Christian Ellefsen have been made.

The next was a prequel (with a different director) called Mother's Elling. The third was called Elling: Love Me Tomorrow directed by Peter Naess (the director of Elling).

Has anyone seen them?

And, I cannot find Region 1 DVDs of them. I can only find an Italian DVD of the third film. Any input on that? (I'm okay with an import as I'm region-free.)

EDIT: But I cannot tell if the Italian DVD of the third film has English subititles!

Mother's Elling (the prequel) and Elling: Love Me Tomorrow are both worthwhile, if you enjoyed the first one.

I found used DVD copies of both with English subtitles on Amazon UK - they might ship over to the USA

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Mothers-Elling-Mors-DVD/dp/B000E8RE7U

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/offer-l...d_used_olp_sr?ie=UTF8&condition=used&qid=&sr=

 

[Mike Frezon]

I found third-party vendors with used copies on amazon.uk...but no dice on shipping to the USA.

 

[Mike Frezon]

Welcome to the frozen north! Agreed, Smiles Of A Summer Night is a good start, but my favourite Bergman - and Robert Harris' - is Wild Strawberries:

https://www.hometheaterforum.com/co...-strawberries-in-blu-ray.323972/#post-3962918

Wild Strawberries is also my favorite Bergman.

Same here. Wonderful, wonderful, movie.

Wild Strawberries is blessed by a truly wonderful performance by the great Swedish director Victor Sjostrom. It's a deeply humanistic film with an unforgettable closing scene.

Since THIS was the film which seemed to get the most attention in my little thread here, Peg and I spun up Wild Strawberries last night.

As I noted in an earlier post, I have seen (and liked) The Seventh Seal. And while of a totally different tone, I think I like Wild Strawberries in much the same vein.

I am amused by the opening sentence to Bosley Crowther's 1959 review of the film in the NY Times:

IF any of you thought you had trouble understanding what Ingmar Bergman was trying to convey in his beautifully poetic and allegorical Swedish film, "The Seventh Seal," wait until you see his "Wild Strawberries" ("Smultron-Stallet"), which came to the Beekman yesterday.

That kinda explains things for me perfectly. I'm not sure I "get" all that Bergman is saying in the film...but I loved much of the journey and know that I will continue to turn over parts of it in my head for a long time to come.

Peg didn't like it so much. She got distracted a few times. It didn't always keep her engaged. And I often count on her to explain some of the metaphorical/allegorical content in the films we watch! (I'm a bit more of a linear thinker, I guess...)

The performance by Viktor Sjostrom is great. Though one of the issues we both had was he, apparently, was doing a bit of soul-searching about not having been a very nice man in his life. Yet, we never really saw anything which showed that...just some references here and there. We thought he came across as a kindly old man.

The Criterion Blu-ray is gorgeous--in both PQ and SQ. And, as one would expect, some of the imagery is just fabulous. There's one scene in Borg's first dream sequence (in the empty streets) when he is walking down a sidewalk and his face is perfectly framed--for several seconds--by a long dark background as he wanders. Just beautiful.

 

[titch]

Since THIS was the film which seemed to get the most attention in my little thread here, Peg and I spun up Wild Strawberries last night.

As I noted in an earlier post, I have seen (and liked) The Seventh Seal. And while of a totally different tone, I think I like Wild Strawberries in much the same vein.

The Criterion Blu-ray is gorgeous--in both PQ and SQ. And, as one would expect, some of the imagery is just fabulous. There's one scene in Borg's first dream sequence (in the empty streets) when he is walking down a sidewalk and his face is perfectly framed--for several seconds--by a long dark background as he wanders. Just beautiful.

It is such a great film about looking back on a life and questioning whether the choices made and the paths taken were the right ones. Victor Sjöström's character had devoted his life to his career and patients, but neglected his family and loved ones. The film is also shot during the brief Scandinavian summer (like almost all Bergman's Swedish films were). For most of us, memories of these summers are powerfully nostalgic. It's amazing that Bergman wrote and directed this when he was still a young man. I have seen it many times since I was a teenager and it only gets more relevant to me as I get older. I would highly recommend listening to Peter Cowie's commentary. His Bergman commentaries are very perceptive and enlightening, and his one for Wild Strawberries is well worth the time.

 

[Mike Frezon]

If anyone reading this thread has DVD copies of Elling's Mother or Elling: Love Me Tonorrow...would you please let me know if those copies hae English subtitles? And, if they do...which releases you have (Italian/German/etc.)?

I've found a couple on Amazon.de...but cannot determine about subtitles.

 

[Mike Frezon]

It's been a while since I've had a chance to post an update here.

Peg and I had our first-ever viewing a couple nights ago of Fanny and Alexander.

Wow.

We watched the theatrical version (via the Criterion stand alone Blu--not the big boxset).

We're both still talking about it. What a gorgeous film. The beautiful interiors of the Ekdahl house at Christmas were crazy. All those candles! And Isak's shop!

And the actress who played the head of the Ekdahl family...Gunn Wallgren was unbelievable--easily the best thing in the film. I couldn't take my eyes off her. And that voice!

I always describe myself as a rather linear thinker. I fear that much of the Bergman symbolism flies right over my head. But I've read several reviews/essays after watching and realize I picked up on most of the themes that Bergman was apparently going for. Still trying to figure out Ismael...

The characters in these films from this part of the world seem so...direct. And so open.

After reading the supplementals, I am, of course, now really curious about the longer TV version of the film. To think that we would get to see Alexander's interaction with the bishop's prior family rather than just hear him tell the story to the servant!

 

[titch]

After reading the supplementals, I am, of course, now really curious about the longer TV version of the film. To think that we would get to see Alexander's interaction with the bishop's prior family rather than just hear him tell the story to the servant!

The TV version is what Bergman conceived and shot first, then two hours were removed before the theatrical premiere in 1982. The five-hour cut premiered on Swedish TV at Christmas two years later in 1984, which is when I first saw it (and it was the first Bergman film I saw). A lot of the fantasy and detail was cut out.

https://www.criterion.com/current/posts/346-fanny-and-alexander-in-the-world-of-childhood

I would strongly recommend watching the TV version - the versions on the box set have been upgraded from the stand-alone version, so maybe a future opportunity will present itself? Maybe next Christmas? I guarantee you won't regret it!

(I don't find all Director's Cuts or longer versions to be better than the original theatrical version of a film. I found Terrence Malick's longer version of The Tree Of Life, which Criterion also produced out this year, to be slightly inferior to the original. I enjoyed it, but it didn't give me the same feeling of awe as the original did).

 

[Martin_Teller]

The TV version is FAR superior. It's my favorite film. I also urge you to go back and watch the longer version.

 

[Mike Frezon]

I definitely plan on watching the long version some time.

Is it broken up into segments? Did it air over several nights (like a mini-series)? Or is it all lumped into a single unit? That's one of the few things I haven't seen addressed in my reading on the film.

 

[titch]

I definitely plan on watching the long version some time.

Is it broken up into segments? Did it air over several nights (like a mini-series)? Or is it all lumped into a single unit? That's one of the few things I haven't seen addressed in my reading on the film.

Four episodes. One per night.

 

[Mike Frezon]

Four episodes. One per night.

That MIGHT help me convince Peg to give it a go. Maybe next Christmas season!

It's hard to schedule a five hour commitment to do most anything nowadays!

 

[Mike Frezon]

It's been a while since I've had anything to post here.

But Peg and I watched the recent DVD release of this a few nights ago:

This is a 2018 Swedish film based on the early life of Astrid Lingren author of the wildly popular Pippi Longstocking children books. The director/screenwriter, Pernelle Christensen, took a real risk with this topic: she, pretty much, failed to reference the Pippi books as part of the tale. There were moments sprinkled throughout in which an elderly Lindgren was reviewing fan mail from children which helped set the stage for many of her life events through the questions/observations of the kids. But for the most part this is Lindgren's life BEFORE she received any kind of acclaim.

The film is remarkably slow-paced and there are a few life-altering decisions among the main characters that were not explained. But, all in all, it was an engaging film. Upon watching some of the bonus features afterwards it becomes apparent that Lindgren is something of a Swedish superstar--someone who is permanently etched into the Swedish culture--but, that this part of her life is not very well known. Christensen kept repeating how important it is to be making films about "strong women," etc.

The film would really benefit from the increased resolution which would be provided by an HD release. There is so much beauty in the photography of the locations used in Sweden and Denmark. As nice as they looked on DVD, they would be even more beautiful on Blu-ray. The sound quality was terrific, however, with aggressive use of the surround channels throughout the film.

 

[Sam Posten]

Have any of you seen In order of disappearance? It's on Netflix now. It's the norwegian film Cold Pursuit is based on. CP is nearly a shot for shot remake!

https://www.hometheaterforum.com/community/threads/cold-pursuit-uhd-review.361906/

 

[bujaki]

Have any of you seen In order of disappearance? It's on Netflix now. It's the norwegian film Cold Pursuit is based on. CP is nearly a shot for shot remake!

https://www.hometheaterforum.com/community/threads/cold-pursuit-uhd-review.361906/

I bought the BD of In Order of Disappearance. Very good film, with a dose of black humor. Have not bothered with the remake.

 

[nara]

Have any of you seen In order of disappearance? It's on Netflix now. It's the norwegian film Cold Pursuit is based on. CP is nearly a shot for shot remake!

https://www.hometheaterforum.com/community/threads/cold-pursuit-uhd-review.361906/

Yes, and it is vastly superior to the remake! Highly recommended