Frank Sundstrom Movies

Shame demonstrates the futility of escaping the consequences of war. In 1971, the Rosenbergs, Jan (Max von Sydow) and Eva (Liv Ullmann), have retreated to an island off the coast of their unnamed country, which is embroiled in a civil conflict. Trained and employed as classical violinists, they make a modest living raising and selling lingonberries, though they continue to play their instruments. When a plane carrying soldiers crashes on the island, Jan and Eva see their lives changed in an instant as soldiers from both sides of the conflict overrun the island and fighting breaks out. The couple is arrested and charged with collaborating with the rebel forces. Colonel Jacobi (Gunnar Bjornstrand), an old friend of the couple, is in charge of the army defending the island, and he agrees to have the couple released if Eva will have sex with him. Shortly after Jan learns of Eva's betrayal, rebel forces gain the upper hand and order Jan to execute Jacobi, which he readily agrees to do. Not sure which side is safe to throw in with, the couple agree to leave on an early morning boat for another island, which is presumably sheltered from the conflict. ~ Tom Wiener, All Movie Guide

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, All Movie Guide

The scene is a Swedish island community in the late 19th century. Katrina (Marta Ekstrom) is the wife of seaman John (Frank Sundstrom). When John falls ill, it is up to Katrina to keep her home and family together. With no money and practically no resources, Katrina's climb is forever uphill, but she manages to weather several long years of disappointment and deprivation. Playing the sort of role that Barbara Stanwyck made her own in Hollywood, Marta Ekstrom is nothing short of brilliant. Director Gustav Edgren adapted his screenplay from a popular novel by Sally Salminen. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide