Tommy Berggren Movies
Swedish leading man Tommy Berggren played many leading roles on stage and in films. He made his theatrical debut at age 17. During the 1960s, he appeared in theatrical productions at Stockholm's Royal Dramatic Theater for Ingmar Bergman. Berggren made his film debut in 1961. Internationally he is most famous for playing a philandering military officer in Widerberg's Elvira Madigan (1967). Berggren has also appeared in Hollywood films, most recently in Sunday's Children (1994), a drama based on the autobiographical writings of Ingmar Bergman. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide- 1998
This 88-minute profile of the late Swedish filmmaker Bo Widerberg, best known for Elvira Madigan (1967), was made by Widerberg's friend, Stefan Jarl (Nature's Warrior). Jarl combined interviews with Widerberg excerpts, highlighted by the inclusion of lost footage (but not the soundtrack) from Widerberg's never-completed Black and Red. Thorsten Flinck provides the voice of Widerberg. Shown at the 1998 Gothenburg film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tommy Berggren, Tomas von Bromssen, (more)
- 1998
This Swedish-Norwegian-Danish children's film is an adaptation of the popular 1964 children's book by Maria Gripe, a classic translated into more than 20 languages. Author Gripe refused to allow a film version until she saw Gronos' adaptation of her novel Agnes Cecilia. Set in the 19th Century, the tale has Snow Queen overtones as the spoiled woman of a royal family wants children for the cold corridors of her vast, sterile castle. After her husband kidnaps the glassblower's children, they are turned into amnesiacs and forced to live in the castle, where they are tortured and abused by their tutor, a weird witch. Production design by Jan Olof Agren contrasts the two settings -- the warmth and art of the glassblower's realistic world as opposed to the heightened sense of dread lurking throughout the mythical and stylized castle. Shown at the 1998 Gothenburg Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Stellan Skarsgård, Pernilla August, (more)
- 1995
The friendship between three Swedish aficionados of American jazz provides the basis of this bluesy Swedish drama set during the '30s. The three pals, Folke, Gosta and Karl-Otto just love listening to jazz and surreptitiously try to play it whenever Folke's dour father, a minister, is not around to reprove them. Though the stern patriarch does all he can to keep his curious young son in the home village, the three pals beginning planning a trip to New York City. Thanks to a sudden influx of cash from the recently deceased Mrs. Alm, the kids set sail. Unfortunately, one of them doesn't survive the journey and the other two never leave their boat once they arrive in America. Upon their return to Stockholm, the survivors decide to become jazz players themselves. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1992
Written by pantheon Swedish filmmaker Ingmar Bergman, Sunday's Children was directed by Bergman's son Daniel. This intensely autobiographical film takes place when the elder Bergman was a child of eight. In a near-cathartic fashion, the story illustrates the strained relationship between young Ingmar and his minister father, and the understanding (not always a warm one) between them. Though Daniel Bergman pursues his own visual style, this is his father's film through and through, and as such should be given an honored place in Ingmar's body of work. Sunday's Children is, to date, the best of the recent "retrospectives" penned by the far-from-retired Ingmar Bergman. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tommy Berggren, Lena Endre, (more)
- 1982
- R
In this drama, a 13-year-old suffers the normal pains of growing up as she tries to deal with her changing relationship with her family. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Agneta Eckemyr, Tommy Berggren, (more)
- 1979
Kristoffer lives on the verge of poverty, just barely supporting himself on his photographic work and an allowance given him by his ex-wife to support their child. He is staying in his absentee mother's large old house, which she is preparing to sell. When he takes a photograph of a man who died by his own hand, the image fascinates him. He grows obsessed with the dead man's story and pushes his researches as far as they will go. This psychological thriller is based on Johan Bargrum's book Darkroom. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tommy Berggren, Agneta Eckemyr, (more)
- 1971
This highly fictionalized biography chronicles the exploits leading up to the execution of the notorious labor leader. The story begins as he is seen immigrating from Sweden to the U.S. Once there he began his involvement with the Wobblies (the Industrial Workers of the World). He becomes more deeply involved with the union. Hill was never without his banjo, and soon he began to write labor songs. After working with the Wobblies for a while, Hill travelled to Utah. There he attempts to protect a woman he loved, takes the blame for a murder and is executed before a firing squad. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
Based on Harold Robbins' bestseller, The Adventurers stars Yugoslav heartthrob Bekim Fehmiu as Porfirio Rubirosa clone Dax Xenos. Having suffered mightily as a child in a fictional South American country due to the political activities of his parents, Xenos grows up to become a sleazy, sexually manipulative playboy. He romances middle-aged widow Olivia de Havilland, then dumps her after he's run through her fortune. He then takes up with heiress Candice Bergen, who bears his child. When the kid is killed and Xenos turns his back on her, Bergen finds solace in lesbianism. All the while, Xenos is fomenting revolutions aimed at toppling the Trujillo-like despot (Alan Badel) responsible for the death of his father. The Adventurers received a lot of magazine coverage due to a poolside nude scene and the "guess who this is supposed to be?" nature of the cast of characters. But it failed to establish Bekim Fehmiu as an international star. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bekim Fehmiu, Charles Aznavour, (more)
- 1968
In this Swedish feature, the bright and colorful carnival atmosphere of Rio is contrasted by life in the neighboring town of Niteroi. The poor town festers with poverty, prostitution and hopelessness and serves as a gathering place for derelict alcoholics who jump ship from many countries. The characters are plagued by tremors, illness and personal and moral degradation as they live out the rest of their miserable lives waiting for their inevitable demise at the hands of demon alcohol. Pappila (Bibi Andersson) tries to collect a $3,000 reward from the Swedish consulate for the safe return of one of the poor unfortunates who is near death in this depressing film. Max von Sydow also stars in this feature. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bibi Andersson, Tommy Berggren, (more)
- 1967
Inspired by the famous Johan Lindstrom Saxon ballad, this Swedish film involves circus performer Elvira Madigan (Pia Degermark) and army officer Sixten Sparre (Thommy Berggren). Sparre breaks loose of the oppressive atmosphere of both the military and his tradition-bound family to conduct a passionate affair with Elvira. Aware only of one another's presence, the lovers refuse to recognize that they have stepped irreversibly on the road to tragedy. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Pia Degermark, Tommy Berggren, (more)
- 1963
Bo Widerberg wrote and directed this domestic drama. Thommy Berggren is Anders, who works at a factory in Malimo, but dreams of being a writer. He lives with his parents in a poor section of the city. His father is an alcoholic whose desire for upper class respectability keeps him from working class employment, while his mother struggles as a washerwoman to earn enough money for the family's survival. Anders writes a first novel that is rejected by the publisher; he turns to the girl next door for sympathy and they fall in love. When she becomes pregnant and wants Anders to marry her, he sees his life unfolding like his parents' and has to decide whether to give up hope and raise a family or to head to Stockholm for a more hopeful future. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tommy Berggren, Keve Hjelm, (more)
- 1963
This symbolic tale of the examination of youthful moral fiber finds a young girl an expectant single parent after a series of affairs with many men. She keep the baby but dumps the father, a kindly but immature youth bent on becoming a rock & roll crooner. When she takes up with a more serious boy, he drags her down with his own series of emotional impairments. The young mother contemplates moving away from her family who remain emotionally distant while under the same roof. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tommy Berggren, Lars Passgård, (more)
