The Girl from the Third Row (1949) Flickan från tredje raden (original title)

Director:

Hasse Ekman

Writer:

Hasse Ekman (writer)

Release Date:

29 August 1949 (Sweden)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

Is man's existence really meaningful and hopeful? As a reply to 'Ingmar Bergman'Prison (1949), this movie claims that it is...

Plot Keywords:

Ring | Embezzler | Painter | Nurse | Episodic Structure

Cast

Hilda Borgström	...	Vilma Andersson
Gunnar Olsson	...	Lilja, jeweller
Sigge Fürst	...	Gusten
Siv Thulin	...	Sonja
Ingrid Backlin	...	Maj Blomkvist, nurse
Gunnar Björnstrand	...	Dr. Edvin Burelius
Hasse Ekman	...	Sture Anker
Mimi Nelson	...	Topsy
Ragnar Arvedson	...	Ekberg, maitre d'
Barbro Hiort af Ornäs	...	Dagmar Antonsson (as Barbro Hjort af Ornäs)
Erik 'Bullen' Berglund	...	C:son Buren, consul (as Erik Berglund)
Eva Henning	...	The girl
Hilding Gavle	...	Fredrik Antonsson
Maj-Britt Nilsson	...	Birgit, The dancer's wife
Sven Lindberg	...	Göte Holmberg, dancer
Fransiska Lindberg	...	Charlotta
Märta Dorff	...	Mrs. Buren
Wiktor Andersson	...	Lager (as Viktor Andersson)
Stig Olin	...	Kalle Nilsson
Aurore Palmgren	...	Mrs. Blomqvist
Gösta Cederlund	...	Hjalmar Haller
Rudolf Wendbladh	...	Otto, banker
Ingrid Envall	...	A Lady
Gunnar Nielsen	...	Holger
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Otto Adelby	...	Guest at restaurant (uncredited)
Sven Arefeldt	...	Himself (uncredited)
Anna-Lisa Fröberg	...	Banker's wife (uncredited)
Agda Helin	...	Lady at roulette table (uncredited)
Marianne Nielsen	...	Nurse (uncredited)
Eva Wikman	...	Gusten's second wife (uncredited)

Directed by
Hasse Ekman

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Hasse Ekman		writer

Produced by
Hasse Ekman	....	producer

Original Music by
Sune Waldimir

Cinematography by
Göran Strindberg

Film Editing by
Lennart Wallén

Art Direction by
Bibi Lindström

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Lasse Swärd	....	assistant director

Sound Department
Olle Jacobsson	....	sound (as Olle Jakobsson)

Other crew
Bertil Fredriksson	....	technical assistant

Production Companies

• Terrafilm

Also Known As:

"Flickan från tredje raden" - Sweden (original title)

Runtime:

88 min

Country:

Sweden

Language:

Swedish

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:S | Sweden:Btl

Filming Locations:

Sandrew-ateljéerna, Gärdet, Stockholm, Stockholms län, Sweden

Company:

Terrafilm

Questions about the meaning of life seen through a ring

When you look back in time at the Swedish film industry it is easy to reduce it to Ingmar Bergman. Although it is some truth to that, films like "The Girl from the Third Row" shows Sweden was gifted with more than one great director.

In "The Girl from the Third Row" the director Hasse Ekman let two different world-views collide. In the opening scene the lead character Gusten (Sigge Furst) talks, through his own-written play, about how pointless and empty our life on earth really is. He is a kind of existentialist/nihilist character.

After the play Gusten meets a girl (Eva Henning) who watched his play from the third row. She begins to tell a story about a ring which passes from person to person and as they have the ring we get to see a short glimpse of the life these people live and the effect the ring have on their lives. Through the story of the ring and the people in possession of it she tries to convince Gusten that there is meaning, destiny and true emotions in life. Gusten is not so easy to convince though.

The two positions that collide in "The Girl from the Third Row" is quite black and white. Either life is empty, shallow and without any meaning or life has set a destiny for us all and life is full of love if we just have the courage to embrace it. With that said there is a lot of scenes and subtle details which make the lines less clear and throws other questions at the viewer.

As you should have figured out now if you read this far this isn't a film for everyone. A previous reviewer found it pretty boring and I can fully understand that you find it boring if you don't understand what the film is about. If you have asked yourself questions about the meaning of life, destiny, read a little philosophy or something like that, then I think you will enjoy this film.

I ranked it an eight in the end. I took one star off because I found the two world-views a bit to black and white and another one because I simply don't agree with the director's point of view. :)

In the end, I highly recommend it!