Peter Schildt Movies
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)
In a farce that starts out galloping but then stumbles and essentially collapses, a few crooks end up cheating other crooks as the story bobbles along between Sweden and Cuba. First a sleazy used-car salesman cons an innocent hair stylist into buying a wreck of a car. Next, the stylist's crooked brother gets out of prison and decides to fleece the car dealer in turn. And so it goes, back and forth, until everything seems to get out of hand, and the story and characters are buried in the process. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Janne Carlsson, Gosta Walivaara, (more)
Adapted from the famous story by Franz Kafka, Metamorphosis tells the bizarre tale of a young traveling salesman who wakes up one morning and discovers that he has turned into a giant cockroach. Everyone is disgusted, most of all himself. Neither he nor his family can quite decide what to do about this change. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Peter Schildt, Ernst Gunther, (more)
Flushed with the success of his Elvira Madigan, Swedish director Bo Widerberg concocted another story of teenaged love juxtaposed with social upheaval in Adalen 31. The title refers to the 1931 worker's strike against the Adalen paper mill in Northern Sweden. As the strikers debate whether or not to use violence in pressing their complaint, the daughter of the factory owner (Marie De Geer) is impregnated by the son of a worker (Peter Schildt). The strike is "resolved" in a bloody confrontation between the laborers and government troops, resulting in the death of the boy--and, on a greater scale, the collapse of Sweden's Conservative Government. The girl ultimately opts for an abortion, which partially explains why Adalen 31 was originally given an "X" rating by the then-conservative Motion Picture Association of America. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Peter Schildt, Kerstin Tidelius, (more)









