Eva von Hanno Movies
This powerful Scandinavian biopic chronicles the fall of one of Norway's most respected authors, Knut Hamsun (played by Max von Sydow in one of his most acclaimed performances) who up until WW II was considered one of the greatest Norwegians of the 20th century. At the dawn of the war, the Nobel Prize winning author shocked his countrymen by publicly siding with the Nazis. His wife Marie took it a step further and went to Germany to give lectures. Following the war, both were convicted and branded as traitors. Hamsun attempts to answer the questions surrounding the author and his wife's treachery. By the time the war erupted, Hamsun was an elderly curmudgeon who could barely hear. A profoundly lonely man with hatred of British Imperialism, he was an easy target for Nazi propaganda. His wife Marie, who in Norway is still more vilified than her husband, also had her reasons to support the German party, but while though-provoking, they don't invite much sympathy. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
Based on the novel Haakon Haakonsen, Shipwrecked is a family film about a cabin boy (Stian Smestad) whose ship is hit by a hurricane just before it is about to be ambushed by pirates. The boy and his stowaway friend wash up on a South Seas island which happens to be where the pirates' treasure is buried. Soon, the pirates--led by Lieutenant Merrick (Gabriel Byrne)--arrive at the island with hopes of reclaiming their treasure, and the boy decides to construct a series of elaborate booby traps to prevent them from reaching the booty. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Stian Smestad, Gabriel Byrne, (more)
- 1986
Nadja (Lena Olin) is a television reporter who turns down an assignment in Japan to seek revenge against a philandering physician in this uneven drama. Stefan (Svante Martin) is the doctor who had been Nadja's lover 15 years ago before he left without explanation and married another woman. Nadja goes through emotional turmoil as she gathers information on the maternity ward and rekindles her affair with the dashing doctor. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lena Olin, Svante Martin, (more)
- 1986
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, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Stina Ekblad, Erland Josephson, (more)
- 1984
Terje Kristiansen wrote, directed, starred, and produced this run-of-the-mill tragi-comedy about Arne (Kristiansen) a twice-married, once-divorced father of various children who cannot adequately handle anything more serious than a hangnail. He is flummoxed by any real trouble at home or at work, he is out-to-sea in the realm of fatherhood, and he is in the habit of lying to his former wife when she comes around with too many demands. He finally commits an unforgivable act in the eyes of Eva his second wife (Kristiansen's real wife and co-producer, Vibeke Lökkeberg), and she walks out in a huff. That leaves him no alternative but to start a serious reformation project. Director Kristiansen might have been better served with a shorter film, and viewers should be advised that sexual encounters between Eva and Arne, real-life husband and wife, might require parental censorship. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Terje Kristiansen, Vibeke Lökkeberg, (more)
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
- Starring:
- Pernilla Allwin, Bertil Guve, (more)
- 1982
Based on the novel by Per Olaf Sundman, Ingenjör Andrées Luftfärd (Flight of the Eagle) tells the real-life story of a Swedish engineer's attempted expedition to the North Pole in a hot air balloon. Jan Troell directs this over two-hour adventure drama set in 1897. Max Von Sydow stars as Salomon August Andrée, the engineer who leads the tragic journey in a balloon called The Ornen (The Eagle). He is accompanied by explorers Nils Strindberg (Goran Stangertz) and Knut Fraenkel (Sverre Anker Ousdal). Ingenjör Andrées Luftfärd was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film in the 1983 Academy Awards. Using his experiences making this film, Troell went on to make the hour-long documentary En Frusen Drom (Their Frozen Dream) in 1998 with archival information from the remains of the expedition found in 1930 on an island near the North Pole. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Max von Sydow, Göran Stangertz, (more)
Ingrid Bergman, the Swedish expatriate who became one of Hollywood's greatest stars, and Ingmar Bergman, one of the world's most acclaimed filmmakers and Sweden's most honored director, worked together for the first and only time in this intensely personal drama about the troubled relationship between a mother and daughter. Charlotte (Ingrid Bergman) is an acclaimed concert pianist who is visiting her daughter Eva (Liv Ullmann), the wife of a parson in a rural community, for the first time in seven years. While Charlotte and Eva struggle to be civil, there is a deep emotional gulf between them. Eva resents her mother for not caring enough for her as a child, feeling that Charlotte was more interested in her career and her other daughter, Helena (Lena Nyman), who is severely handicapped and can only communicate through inarticulate noises. Charlotte, on the other hand, is uncomfortable with the fact that Helena now lives with Eva, and she is still coming to terms with the emotional devastation of her husband's recent death. Herbstsonate, released in America as Autumn Sonata, earned Ingrid Bergman some of the most enthusiastic acclaim of her career; she received an Oscar nomination for Best Actress, and she won the same honor from the National Board of Review and the New York Film Critics Circle. It was also her last theatrical release; she would appear in only one more project, a TV movie about the life of Golda Meir, before her death in 1982. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ingrid Bergman, Liv Ullmann, (more)
- 1976
In this drama, Hinder (Hakan Serner) is a middle-aged music teacher who has suddenly realized that time is passing him by. He has two unfulfilled dreams in life: to finish his major symphonic composition, and to have a genuinely successful love affair. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Hakan Serner, Yvonne Lombard, (more)
