Kristin Lavransdatter (1995)

Kristin is the daughter of a prominent landowner in medieval Norway. She grows up in total harmony with the ideals of the time: strong family ties, social pride and devout Christianity. She... See full summary »

Director:

Liv Ullmann

Writers:

Liv Ullmann, Sigrid Undset (novel)

Stars:

Linus Aaberg, Gisken Armand, Berard Arnø

1 win & 1 nomination.

Cast

Credited cast:
Linus Aaberg
Gisken Armand	...	Ingbjørg
Berard Arnø	...	Ung Erlend
Bernhard Arnø	...	Arne Gyrdson
Peter Baden	...	Bentein som barn
Lars-Erik Berenett	...	Bjørn
Svein Erik Brodal	...	Munan Bårdsson
Joachim Calmeyer	...	Sira Eirik
Lena Endre	...	Eline Ormsdatter
Vibeke Falk	...	Tordis
George Fant	...	Bård Petersson
Astrid Folstad	...	Groa Guttormsdotter
Gina Green	...	Young Dancer
Hilde Grythe	...	Cecilia
Paul-Ottar Haga	...	Bentein

Storyline

Kristin is the daughter of a prominent landowner in medieval Norway. She grows up in total harmony with the ideals of the time: strong family ties, social pride and devout Christianity. She accepts the fact that her father has arranged for her to marry the son of another landowner. Kristin's beauty and purity create violent emotions around her. There are envy and attempted rape, murder and revenge. She seeks refuge from the world in a convent, awaiting the time for her marriage. Here the passion of her life strikes, the knight Erlend Nikulaussonn. He, an accomplished seducer, also falls hopelessly in love. They have to cross not only convent walls to meet, but social boundaries as well. Their love cannot be kept secret, and suddenly the innocent Kristin is the centre of a scandal. Her fiance withdraws from their engagement, her father rages, and Erlend's former mistress tries to poison her. The affair grows into a political issue, and finally some of the country's most dignified ...

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Plot Keywords:

love | convent | f rated | title directed by female | male female relationship | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Details

Country:

Germany Norway Sweden

Language:

Norwegian

Release Date:

25 August 1995 (Norway)

Also Known As:

Kransen

Filming Locations:

Jomfruland, Norway

Company Credits

Production Co:

Lavransdatter AB, Lefwander Kapitalförvaltning AB, Norsk Film

Technical Specs

Runtime:

180 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The Norwegian entry to the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 1996.

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Alternate Versions

The film premiered in the United States at a length of 144 minutes. The original length was 187 minutes. A restored version was released to video in North America, with all the cut footage intact.

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Connections

Referenced in The Danish Poet (2006)

User Reviews

Plain awful

If I had seen this film before reading the book first, I still would not have liked it very much. However, as I had read the book, I cannot write this review without comparing the two.

Compared to the book, this film was horrible. Not merely because the pace was slow, or because of the pointless changes they made to the plot in places.

No, what ruined it for me was the choice of actors. There is not a one, I think, who completely fit their character, but more so for the main characters. Take Kristin, for example; in the book, she is, at the oldest, about 18. And yet the actress looked 28. Kristin is described as being incredibly beautiful; and yet, the actress was, if not directly ugly, certainly not pretty or attractive in any way. Kristin is supposed to be sweet, innocent and mild of manner--in every way the epitome of the the gentle young virgin. And yet I saw few such characteristics in the way the actress portrayed her.

And Erlend. Erlend was supposed to be handsome, dashing, sweeping her off her feet. The very Romeo to her Juliet. The actor looked retarded half of the time, his mouth hanging open; the other half was nothing special.

And then there are the pointless changes in the other characters. Kristin's bedmate, Ingebjørg (and she was the ONLY bedmate...Helga was very little involved with anything in the book) was supposed to be blonde and very fat. Kristin's father was supposed to be very fair and knightly. Likewise, her almost-fiancé was supposed to be plump and talkative, too. And her sister was supposed to be about 6 years her younger; NOT the same age.

Possibly petty complaints: but actors make the film. Choose actors that cannot play their part, and you have a bad film. It's as simple as that. If you want to adapt a book to the screen, please do so as accurately as possible. Truth be told, I couldn't make myself watch the last half an hour of the film, it was annoying me so much. In the book, in liked Kristin; I had sympathy for her cause. In the film, I did not, at all.