Edvard Grieg Movies
Before his later years when he composed in the summertime in a small wooden cabin above a clear blue Norwegian fjord amidst Ullensvang facing the Folgefonna glacier, the innovative, highly melodic, and richly harmonic music of this man, once called the "Chopin of the North," already exhibited a prodigious talent. At the early age of 15, Grieg entered the Leipzig Conservatory, graduating four years later and already composing mature and skillful works. Grieg was only 25 when he created one of his world famous masterpieces, the Piano Concerto in A Minor which can be heard in the soundtrack to Windjammer: The Voyage of the Christian Radich (1958). This concerto is as expansive as a Norwegian landscape and contains the modal lyricism and rich harmonic accumulations (9th and 13th chords, for example) that came to characterize much of Grieg's output. Grieg's most advanced harmonies can be heard in his Norwegian Peasant Dances and Tunes, Op. 72 and his last major completed work, Four Psalms for mixed choir.Works like Before a Southern Convent for soprano, contralto, ladies' choir, and orchestra (1871), and music for the scenic dramas Sigurd Jorsalfar and Olav Trygvason, show the composer's deep affinity for his national roots and his respect for folk music. This feeling was perhaps brought forth most evidently when Henrik Ibsen asked Griegto write the incidental music to Peer Gynt, the two orchestral suites which have become very popular. It is the movement from this work entitled In the Hall of the Mountain King that has been most quoted in soundtracks, and is instantly recognizable by audiences. One of its first occurrences was in D.W. Griffith's controversial The Birth of a Nation (1915) (aka The Clansman). This gradually accelerating theme has since appeared in other dramatic, suspenseful, and even eerie contexts, such as in the psychological Peter Lorre thriller M (1931), Peer Gynt (1941), the television production The Pied Piper of Hamelin (1957), the memorable sci-fi film Soylent Green (1973), Demoni (Demons, 1985), the creepy Stephen King-based Satan-moves-into-a-small-town-in-the-guise-of-an-antique-dealer horror film Needful Things (1993), Welcome to the Dollhouse (1995), The Crown Jewel of Indonesia (1999), The Mountain King (2001), and Rat Race (2001).
Grieg's many volumes of Lyric Pieces all contain brilliant character studies that have found their way into a few films, such as the Lyric Pieces, Op. 54 Nocturne used in Rock 'n' Roll Frankenstein (1999), and the Lyric Piece No. 28, Op. 47, No. 6 in Babe (1995). Hopefully, many of these beautiful gems will be discovered by future filmmakers. ~ "Blue" Gene Tyranny, All Movie Guide
- 2008
Working in collaboration with Brett Dean and Mark-Anthony Turnage, composer-choreographer Heinz Spoerli authored the ballet Peer Gynt as an adaptation of Henrik Ibsen's five-act 1867 play of the same name, set to Edvard Grieg's famous score. The Zurcher Ballett mounted a stage production of the Spoerli-Turnage-Dean work in 2008; a film of that production appears in this release. Philipp Schepmann and Marijn Rademaker share the role of Gynt; Yen Han plays Solveig and Ana Carolina Quaresma portrays Ase. The Zurich Opera Orchestra and Choir lend musical accompaniment under the direction of Eivind Gullberg Jensen. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Marijn Rademaker, Philipp Schepmann, (more)
- 2008
- R
Some of the world's most-respected directors align forces to pay tribute to the city of the New York in this unconventional omnibus sister film to 2006's Paris, Je T'Aime. Broken into short segments, New York, I Love You is comprised of ten films, most choosing to take a down-to-earth approach to the stories of the countless lives lived in the city on a given day. The segments are as follows, chronologically:
Segment 1 -- Directed by Jiang Wen; written by Hu Hong and Meng Yao; starring Hayden Christensen, Andy Garcia, and Rachel Bilson.
Segment 2 -- Directed by Mira Nair; written by Suketu Mehta; starring Natalie Portman and Irfan Khan.
Segment 3 -- Written and directed by Shunji Iwai; adaptation by Israel Horovitz. Starring Orlando Bloom and Christina Ricci.
Segment 4 -- Directed by Yvan Attal; written by Olivier Lécot and Yvan Attal; starring Robin Wright Penn, Ethan Hawke, Maggie Q, and Chris Cooper.
Segment 5 -- Directed by Brett Ratner; written by Jeff Nathanson; starring Anton Yelchin, James Caan, Olivia Thirlby, and Blake Lively
Segment 6 -- Directed by Allen Hughes; written by Xan Cassavetes and Stephen Winter; starring Drea de Matteo and Bradley Cooper.
Segment 7 -- Directed by Shekhar Kapur; written by Anthony Minghella; starring Julie Christie, John Hurt, and Shia LaBeouf.
Segment 8 -- Written and directed by Natalie Portman; starring Taylor Geare, Carlos Acosta, and Jacinda Barrett.
Segment 9 -- Written and directed by Fatih Akin; starring Burt Young, Ugur Yucel, and Shu Qi.
Segment 10 -- Written and directed by Joshua Marston; starring Eli Wallach and Cloris Leachman.
Transitions in between segments -- Directed by Randall Balsmeyer; written by Israel Horovitz, James Strouse, and Hall Powell; starring Emilie Ohana, Eva Amurri, and Justin Bartha. ~ Michael Hastings, All Movie Guide
Segment 1 -- Directed by Jiang Wen; written by Hu Hong and Meng Yao; starring Hayden Christensen, Andy Garcia, and Rachel Bilson.
Segment 2 -- Directed by Mira Nair; written by Suketu Mehta; starring Natalie Portman and Irfan Khan.
Segment 3 -- Written and directed by Shunji Iwai; adaptation by Israel Horovitz. Starring Orlando Bloom and Christina Ricci.
Segment 4 -- Directed by Yvan Attal; written by Olivier Lécot and Yvan Attal; starring Robin Wright Penn, Ethan Hawke, Maggie Q, and Chris Cooper.
Segment 5 -- Directed by Brett Ratner; written by Jeff Nathanson; starring Anton Yelchin, James Caan, Olivia Thirlby, and Blake Lively
Segment 6 -- Directed by Allen Hughes; written by Xan Cassavetes and Stephen Winter; starring Drea de Matteo and Bradley Cooper.
Segment 7 -- Directed by Shekhar Kapur; written by Anthony Minghella; starring Julie Christie, John Hurt, and Shia LaBeouf.
Segment 8 -- Written and directed by Natalie Portman; starring Taylor Geare, Carlos Acosta, and Jacinda Barrett.
Segment 9 -- Written and directed by Fatih Akin; starring Burt Young, Ugur Yucel, and Shu Qi.
Segment 10 -- Written and directed by Joshua Marston; starring Eli Wallach and Cloris Leachman.
Transitions in between segments -- Directed by Randall Balsmeyer; written by Israel Horovitz, James Strouse, and Hall Powell; starring Emilie Ohana, Eva Amurri, and Justin Bartha. ~ Michael Hastings, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Hayden Christensen, Andy Garcia, (more)
- 2007
- Add Leif Ove Andsnes: Ballad for Edvard Grieg to QueueAdd Leif Ove Andsnes: Ballad for Edvard Grieg to top of Queue
As hosted by Norwegian concert pianist Andsnes, the compilation film Leif Ove Andsnes: Ballad for Edvard Grieg commences with a documentary on composer Grieg's Ballade in G Minor that carries the audience on a voyage across Europe; the film then interpolates a sequence of straightforward Grieg interpretations by Andsnes including one of Ballade in G Minor performed and shot at Bergen's Grieg Hall in 2007; another of the Piano Concerto in A Minor performed and shot at Bergen's Grieg Hall with the musical accompaniment of The Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of Ole Kristian Ruud; and a series of Grieg pieces performed by Andsnes in the composer's original living room at Troldhaugen and on his original Steinway. The selections in this final segment include Norwegian Melody Op. 12 No. 6, Homesickness Op. 57 No. 6, At Your Feet Op. 68 No. 3 and several others. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Leif Ove Andsnes
The drama Angel's Fall concerns two citizens of Istanbul whose sad lives become intertwined in unexpected ways. Zeynep works as a maid in a hotel who must contend with her abusive father. Selcuk has remained in a profound depression ever since the death of his wife. Soon, fate brings these two lost souls together. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tulin Ozen, Budak Akalin, (more)
- 2002
Several religious songs are performed by the renowned Choir of St. John's College in this concert release from Alpha Centauri Entertainment. Choir of St. John's College, Cambridge: Ave Verum - Popular Choral Classics includes renditions of Haydn's "Insanae et vanae curae," Rachmaninov's "Hymn of the Cherubim," and many others. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Christopher Robinson, Peter Davis, (more)
- 1994
This Dutch film, based upon the classic 19th century S&M novel, chronicles the relationship between a dominatrix and her slave. Much of the soundtrack includes works by Mahler and Tchaikovsky. Wanda has a number of sado-masochistic encounters with Severin in a variety of locations including a crypt. In the end, he is left branded by another man while she leaves with a woman. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Anne van de Ven, Andre Arend van Noord, (more)
- 1991
In this coming-of-age drama, based on a novel by Charles Juliet, François is a sensitive and thoughtful student at a military boarding school in 1948. He is fourteen and an orphan, and the French are still fighting in Indochina, as they will continue to do for many years. He believes he will be sent to fight there when he graduates, and he is sure he will die in that far-away place. While he sees himself as stubbornly principled, others, including the school's bullies, simply see him as stubborn and a nuisance besides. In fact, his humiliation by the school's bullies is so constant that one of his persistent fantasies is to become a skilled boxer and trounce them all. That is one reason why he has become fixated on one of the school's military instructors, a handsome sergeant who was a championship boxer. While there may be an unformed erotic component to his fixation, it does not manifest overtly but adds fuel to his sexual initiation with the sergeant's wife. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Laurent Grévill, Martin Lamotte, (more)
- 1991
- NR
Based on a true story, the bleak period piece Oxen was co-written and directed by Ingmar Bergman's longtime cinematographer Sven Nykvist. In the small village of Småland in the late 1860s, Helge Roos (Stellan Skarsgård) works as a farmer on an estate belonging to Svenning Gustafsson (Lennart Hjulström) and his wife (Liv Ullmann). Plagued by a terrible famine, Helge illegally kills one of the Gustaffson's last oxen so his own family can eat. He and his wife, Elfrida (Ewa Fröling), feel guilty about it, but the meat keeps them alive through the winter. When he tries to sell the hide in the spring, a clergyman (Max Von Sydow) finds out and encourages him to confess. The judge sentences Helge to a life of manual labor at the state prison for his crime. When he is finally pardoned and released after six years, he returns home to Elfrida to find out that she has been supporting the family by performing sexual services, which has resulted in the birth of another child. In the 1970s, Von Sydow and Ullmann appeared together in a set of films also dealing with the Swedish famine in Jan Troell's The Emigrants and The New Land. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Stellan Skarsgård, Ewa Fröling, (more)
- 1987
Set amidst a backdrop of political unrest and oppression in Argentina following the coup of the late 1980s, this impressive drama dwells upon a May-December love affair between a boy and a woman suspected of political subversion. When seventeen-year-old Pedro defiantly befriends political fugitive Sofia and provides her shelter, he creates a deep rift between himself, his family and his friends. Sofia is hunted because she was at one time in love with a Communist sympathizer. At first the relationship is purely platonic as Pedro helps her recover from a 23-day long flight that has left Sofia weak and starving for sleep. But as time passes, Pedro becomes increasingly involved with her and his schoolwork begins to suffer. Gradually he falls in love with her and she with him. But as the political situation grows more oppressive and the government steps up its search for subversives, the two begin making desperate plans to flee the country. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dora Baret, Graciela Dufau, (more)
- 1984
This classical music performance release finds acclaimed concert pianist Emil Gilels interpreting piano concertos by Edvard Grieg and Ludwig von Beethoven, with the accompaniment of the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra. Paavo Berglund conducts. The two featured selections are: Piano Concerto No. 3 in C Minor, Op. 37 by Beethoven and Piano Concerto in A Minor, Op. 16 by Grieg. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
- 1972
This classical concert film features several interpretations by acclaimed American pianist Harvey Lavan "Van" Cliburn, Jr, performed in Moscow in 1972. Selections include: Grieg's Piano Concerto and Brahms's Piano Concerto No. 2. The Moscow Philharmonic, led by Kirill Kondrashin, accompanies Van Cliburn. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Van Cliburn
- 1971
In this slow German "thriller," a man decides to investigate a country manor which is up for sale. He then gets slightly involved with the current owner, a young widow. It soon becomes clear to him that the woman is somewhat deranged. He bears a striking resemblance to the husband she apparently killed, and now he must somehow escape her clutches. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- 1965
The famed Henrik Ibsen play about a legendary traveler embarking upon a dangerous journey was the basis for the 1941 silent film Peer Gynt, originally created as a Northwestern University project, which features an early appearance by future film star Charlton Heston. It was shot along the shores of northern Illinois, Wisconsin, and Lake Michigan. Twenty-four years later, the picture was reedited with added footage and a voice-over by siilent film icon Francis X. Bushman, and released three years after that, in 1968. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide
The Pied Piper of Hamelin was originally filmed as a television special, then released theatrically outside the United States. The story is the familiar one: the town of Hamelin, plagued by rats, hires a mysterious piper (Van Johnson) to rid the town of rodents. The piper does so, on the promise that he'll be paid a handsome fee. But the duplicitous burgomeister (Claude Rains), on the advice of his Laurel-and-Hardy council (Doodles Weaver and Stanley Adams), reneges on his promise. In revenge, the piper lures all of Hamelin's children off to parts unknown. In a departure from the original, there's a happy ending this time. Most of the dialogue is spoken in rhyme (quite amusingly by Rains), while the songs are adaptations of Edvard Grieg tunes. In the musical department, Kay Starr comes off best as the grieving mother of one of the missing kids. Because it was filmed in color, The Pied Piper of Hamelin has remained in TV syndication into the 1990s. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
This adaptation of Henrik Ibsen's famous play features 16-year-old Charlton Heston in his film debut. It is a silent film, and was part of a Northwestern University project. It was filmed in the Mid West and on the northern shores of Lake Michigan. The story concerns an adventurous world traveler who embarks on a perilous journey, yet remains faithful to his beloved. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
Fritz Lang's classic early talkie crime melodrama is set in 1931 Berlin. The police are anxious to capture an elusive child murderer (Peter Lorre), and they begin rounding up every criminal in town. The underworld leaders decide to take the heat off their activities by catching the child killer themselves. Once the killer is fingered, he is marked with the letter "M" chalked on his back. He is tracked down and captured by the combined forces of the Berlin criminal community, who put him on trial for his life in a kangaroo court. The killer pleads for mercy, whining that he can't control his homicidal instincts. The police close in and rescue the killer from the underworld so that he can stand trial again in "respectable" circumstances. Some prints of the film end with a caution to the audience to watch after their children more carefully. Filmed in Germany, M was the film that solidified Fritz Lang's reputation with American audiences, and it also made a star out of Peter Lorre (previously a specialist in comedy roles!). M was remade by Hollywood in 1951, with David Wayne giving a serviceable performance as the killer. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Peter Lorre, Ellen Widmann, (more)
