Henrik Schildt Movies

This well-executed biographical docudrama is a plunge into the madness (and the sanity) of a writer living life on its rawest edges. Agnes Von Krusenstjarna (Stina Ekbland) was a Swedish novelist (1894-1940) whose works ranged from the idyllically romantic to crushingly sardonic, sexually explicit autobiography. Von Krusenstjarna teamed up with the eccentric bisexual David Sprengel (Erland Josephson) and continued to suffer bouts of mental instability that Sprengel felt were best cured by sexual abandon. Von Krusenstjarna was not a model of emotional health when she first met Sprengel. She had inherited madness from her family while at the same time passionately rebelled against the narrow-minded mores of her genteel but poor parents. With his own wildly unorthodox behavior, Sprengel both helped and hindered Von Krusenstjarna throughout their turbulent relationship. Audiences will be enthralled by the clash of Von Krusenstjarna's inner and outer realities, but should be aware there is an abundance of sexually explicit material here. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

In this drama set in a Scandinavian hospital in 1915, the individual stories of three pregnant women about to give birth are presented. The women come from a different social classes and have disparate views about the impending births. The middle-class woman married a servant of a wealthy family. She doesn't love her husband, nor does she care much about her child, whom she conceived out of spite. The baby is stillborn, and the woman sheds nary a tear. The second woman became wild and sexually irresponsible after she was seduced as a young woman by a much older man. Dividing her time between modeling and robbery, the woman ends up sleeping with the son of the family the middle-class woman's husband works for. The son is willing to support his bastard provided the wild woman marry his homosexual friend and pretend the child is his. She agrees. The third woman is introverted. As a youth, she had a short-lived lesbian affair in school. She then fell in love with an archaeologist who impregnated her. He refuses to acknowledge the child as his. This enrages the woman who joins a feminist movement and dedicates her life to removing the stigma of having babies out of wedlock. Of the three, she is the only one who really wants her child. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

The Swedish comedy Master Detectiven Blonkvist was based on a novel by children's author Astrid Lindgren. The ironically amusing title refers to a young boy who fancies himself a great sleuth. Applying his adolescent deductive skills to a local mystery, young Blonkvist actually solves the case -- but not without the help of his precocious little friends. It's basic Emil and the Detectives material, done with class and finesse. While there was always a market for kiddie films in Sweden, Master Detectiven Blonkvist had trouble securing bookings elsewhere. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Anders Henrickson is both star and director of Blood och Eld. Though the title translates to Blood and Fire, the film itself is not quite as forbidding. It is in fact the saga of the Swedish Salvation Army, as seen through the eyes of a crusading do-gooder played by Henrickson. Inasmuch as the film was Henrickson's first effort since 1942, Blood och Eld was welcomed with open arms by critics and viewers alike, and was judged Sweden's best film of 1945 by several authoritative sources. American critics were not quite as impressed, dismissing the film as having regional appeal only. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi