Barnens ö (1980)

User Rating:

6.8/10   

Director:

Kay Pollak

Writers:

P.C. Jersild (book)
Ola Olsson (writer)

Release Date:

25 December 1980 (Sweden)

Genre:

Drama | Family

Tagline:

efter P.C. Jersilds succé-roman.

Plot:

Reine is supposed to go to a summercamp called 'Childrens island' but decides to remain in Stockholm...

Plot Keywords:

Coming Of Age | Voyeurism | Teenage Boy | Female Frontal Nudity | Skinhead

Awards:

3 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Tomas Fryk	...	Reine Larsson
Anita Ekström	...	Harriet Larsson
Ingvar Hirdwall	...	Stig Utler
Börje Ahlstedt	...	Hester
Lars-Erik Berenett	...	Esbjörn
Hjördis Petterson	...	Olga
Sif Ruud	...	Mrs. Bergman-Ritz
Lena Granhagen	...	Helen
Majlis Granlund	...	Lotten
Malin Ek	...	Kristina
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Bissa Abelli	...	Member of theatre group
Christer Banck	...	Janne
Sune Bergsten	...	Guy in "Gang of Death"
Björn Borg	...	Himself
Per Carleson	...	Member of theatre group
Maria Dehnisch	...	Birgitta
Örjan Engström	...	Guy in "Gang of Death"
Barbro 'Babben' Larsson	...	Member of theatre group (as Barbro Larsson)
Thomas Macklin	...	Member of theatre group
Tom Okker	...	Himself
Sigrun M. Proppé	...	Member of theatre group
Mikael Selder	...	Guy in "Gang of Death"
Maud Sjökvist	...	Maria
Elisabeth Sjöström	...	Member of theatre group
Johnny Söderberg	...	Member of theatre group
Hélène Svedberg	...	Nora
Kari Sylwan	...	Dancer on TV
Karin Thulin	...	Dancer on TV
Anneli Tulldahl	...	Lisa
Franciska von Koch	...	Member of theatre group

Also Known As:

Children's Island

Runtime:

109 min

Country:

Sweden

Language:

Swedish

Color:

Color (Fujicolor)

Certification:

Finland:S (video rating) (1993) | Finland:K-14 (theatrical rating) (1981) | Sweden:11 | Iceland:L

Company:

Svenska Filminstitutet (SFI)

Slightly clinical view on transit to puberty

The decades which have passed since the premiere of this movie, have not treated it lovingly. In 1980 it became an immediate classic of Swedish cinema, based on a highly praised, bestseller book. Now, it's all but forgotten.

Tomas Fryk, playing the boy about to enter puberty and hating it, makes a formidable performance, and went on to do a number of other films, usually with equal brilliance. But the boy he has to portray is not altogether flesh and blood - more of an intellectual construction of slightly clinical nature.

P. C. Jersild, the writer of the book on which the film is based and sticks to quite obediently, is an MD, so to him the perspective might have made sense, but I would have found the character Reine easier to believe if he had not been so single-minded in his attitude to growing up.

The human psyche is mysterious, for sure, and often defies understanding. Therefore, so are human actions. But one thing the mind never is, is singular. Everyone contains pro and con to just about anything. Reine lacks the pro, the longing to grow up - and a convincing explanation to why he would lack it.