Stina Ekblad Movies

Danish auteur Lars von Trier directs the documentary-of-sorts The Five Obstructions (De Fem Benspænd). In 2001, von Trier convinces veteran filmmaker Jørgen Leth to create five remakes of his 1967 short The Perfect Human. Calling himself the Obstructor, von Trier orders Leth to make his films in various parts of the world with extremely specific demands. For instance, the first film must be shot in Cuba with no set with only 12 frames per shot. The five remakes-within-the-film are "The Perfect Human: Bombay," "The Perfect Human: Brussels," "The Perfect Human: Cartoon," "The Perfect Human: Cuba," and "The Perfect Human: Avedøre, Denmark." Each has its own set of ridiculous limitations created by von Trier. The Five Obstructions was shown at the Sundance Film Festival as part of a special screening. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide

Nine of Sweden's leading actresses are brought together in this unconventional comedy-drama about a group of actresses awaiting a casting announcement. A major American film producer is looking for a Swedish actress to play the title role in a big-budget remake of the classic Greta Garbo vehicle Queen Christina, and a handful of women who were in talks for the role wait with bated breath for the decision to be declared. Rebecca (Lena Endre), married to hunky matinee idol Ake (Mikael Persbrandt), is spending her 40th birthday waiting for word on the role. Alexandra (Suzanne Reuter) will be shooting a TV commercial, to be directed by Rolf (Brasse Brannstrom). Rolf used to be involved with Cecilia (Marie Richardson), who lately is nearly as well known for the fact that she's pregnant and not identifying the father as she is for her acting. Cecilia appears on a morning chat show with Georgina (Ewa Froling), who used to be in love with Gregor (Peter Haber), Alexandra's current husband. Stella (Helena Bergstrom) is a defiantly out lesbian who is having an affair with Karin (Marika Lagercrantz), the wife of film director Magnus (Rolf Lassgard). Stella also happens to be starring in Magnus' latest project, along with Ake and Molly (Pernilla August). Meanwhile, Git (Gunilla Roor) is in a session with her analyst, trying to come to terms with her feelings about her work, and Evior (Stina Ekblad) is in rehearsal for a musical, and reaching the regrettable conclusion that she can neither dance nor sing. In keeping with the film's tangled onscreen relationships, Helena Bergstrom, who plays a lesbian sleeping with her director's wife, is married to Colin Nutley, Gossip's writer and director. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

This Danish children's film compares and contrasts the lives of rich and poor while telling the upbeat story of the friendship between two eleven-year-old girls. The girls are neighbors outside of Copenhagen. Maj-Britt's parents are both unemployed, but remain amiable as they try to scrape by. Her father spends his free hours raising and training racing pigeons. Christina's family are both working professionals with aspirations of social grandeur. Her mother loves to throw posh soirees and is uptight and finicky about their household. Despite their differences, Maj-Britt and Christina are best friends, until the latter's parents end up serving some of Maj's father's squabs for supper. The battle ends when they both try to help mend a pigeon's broken wing. It is good that they have separated this bird for one day a predatory marten swoops in and slaughters the rest of the flock, leaving it up to the girls and their pigeon to concoct a secret plan and save the day. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

This Danish biographical drama pays tribute to and chronicles the rags-to-riches life of Carl Nielsen, the famed Danish 19th century composer. The story is comprised of three parts following Nielsen from age 7, 15, and 19. The first part, set in 1871, examines the family life seven-year old country boy Carl. The impoverished family has just suffered two devastating losses after one member emigrates, and another dies of TB. Carl's love of music came from his father, a fiddler. It was his father who taught him to play. The second part is set in 1879. Carl is forced by his domineering mother to join an army post in Odense. There he becomes their bugler. He also teaches himself the piano and finds himself influenced by the enigmatic Mozart playing Outzen. He then falls for Magda, a Mormon who desires to save him. The relationship doesn't work out. The third segment begins in 1883 with Carl beginning his musical career and beginning to compose. He plays at parties for the local aristocracy. He falls in love with the lovely Anna, but she rejects him. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Ten years ago, Nora's parents were killed in an automobile accident. That's what she was told, anyway, when she was five. Since then, she has lived with a couple who had a son her own age. She has never been completely reconciled to their loss and thinks of them often. When her adoptive family moves into an old apartment, strange things begin happening -- like a broken clock running backwards -- and the family's dog refuses to enter her room. She has also been mysteriously saved from harm in a number of accidents. It seems that she has a supernatural visitor, a girl who lived in the apartment long before. The two girls, one living and one dead, become friends and together find the answer to a number of mysteries that have haunted them both. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

The rabbit-like man in this story is a teacher, who is regularly abused by his students, is humiliated by the school administration, and is routinely ignored by his television newscaster father. His wife, however, wonders what he has been doing with the suspiciously long time between the end of his school day and his appearances at home. Meanwhile, a series of rapes has been taking place in the region, and the teacher's father, who hosts a television crime show, begins to investigate them. As it becomes clearer to him that his own son has probably been committing the crimes, he confronts him, with unsatisfactory results. He continues his investigations, and finally accumulates enough evidence that he must go to the police. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

This horror feature send-up concerns an actor/director (Etienne Glaser) trying to talk his two female employers into letting his crew shoot a film about real people. The crew plays practical jokes that involve severed limbs and lots of blood in this tongue-in-cheek look at the horror film-factory that exposes the colorful carnage. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

A challenging and powerful adaptation of a novel by Torgny Lindgren, this drama objectively examines the quiet courage of impoverished people whose faith in God's word enables them to uncomplainingly endure the gross injustice inherent in their culture. Set in the 19th century in the rugged countryside of northern Sweden, the tale centers on Tea, a young woman who is forced to submit to the sexual desires of her landlord. Her situation is not unusual for the times, and whether or not the woman was married, it was considered a morally acceptable means of paying the rent in accordance with their interpretation of the Bible. If a woman refused to sleep with her landlord, she and her family would be evicted. The tale is told from her perspective. Tea was a young bride the first time her landlord Ole Karlsa came calling, and upon her return home she finds that her husband has hung himself. Over the years, Tea has borne many of Ole Karlsa's children, none of whom he officially claims. Despite her years of sexual service, she remains poverty-bound, but this has neither stolen her pride nor broken her spirit. She staunchly refuses to allow Ole Karlsa to get close to his illegitimate brood. Eventually the landowner dies and soon afterward his son Karl Orsa comes to collect his "rent." In between visits, Tea finds happiness for the first time in years when she becomes lovers with a romantic wanderer. Her joy is short-lived, for the drifter is arrested for stealing. More trouble comes when Karl Orsa decides that Tea is too old and that her oldest daughter, in accordance with the custom, must take her place. He refuses to listen to Tea's pleas that to sleep with her daughter would be incest, and this sets up a series of tragedies, all of which are stoically borne by Tea, her family and Karl Orsa (who is just as much a victim of culture as the rest). ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

Though he made allusions to his own life in all of his films, Fanny and Alexander was the first overtly autobiographical film by Ingmar Bergman. Taking his time throughout (188 minutes to be exact), Bergman recreates several episodes from his youth, using as conduits the fictional Ekdahl family. Alexander, the director's alter ego, is first seen at age 10 at a joyous and informal Christmas gathering of relatives and servants. Fanny is Alexander's sister; both suffer an emotional shakedown when their recently-widowed mother (Ewa Froling) marries a cold and distant minister. Stripped of their creature comforts and relaxed family atmosphere, Fanny and Alexander suddenly find their childhood unendurable. The kids' grandmother (Gunn Wallgren) "kidnaps" Fanny and Alexander for the purpose of showering them with the first kindness and affection that they've had since their father's death. This "purge" of the darker elements of Fanny and Alexander's existence is accomplished at the unintentional (but applaudable) cost of the hated stepfather's life. Ingmar Bergman insisted that Fanny and Alexander, originally a multipart television series pared down to feature-film length, represented his final theatrical film, though within a year after its release he was busy with several additional Swedish TV projects, and his final work, the 2003 Saraband (also produced for Swedish television), eventually received global theatrical distribution. Oscars went to Fanny and Alexander for Best Foreign Film, Best Cinematography (Sven Nykvist), Best Costume Design and Best Art Direction/Set Decoration. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The setting is the beginning of the 20th century in Denmark, underscored by the use of sepia-tinted scenes, and the bride of a villainous mill owner suffers her own existence stoically, until a handsome railroad laborer catches her eye and hope begins to dawn for a relationship based on love rather than endurance. The stilted movements, dialogue, and sepia-soaked scenes were probably meant to create the "look and feel" of an earlier time, though viewers themselves will have to decide on whether or not the technique is successful. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide