I Am Dina (2002)

In Northern Norway during the 1860s, a little girl named Dina accidentally causes her mother's death. Overcome with grief, her father refuses to raise her, leaving her in the care of the ... See full summary »

Director:

Ole Bornedal

Writers:

Ole Bornedal, Jonas Cornell

Stars:

Maria Bonnevie, Gérard Depardieu, Christopher Eccleston

9 wins & 8 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Maria Bonnevie	...	Dina
Gérard Depardieu	...	Jacob
Christopher Eccleston	...	Leo Zhukovsky
Bjørn Floberg	...	Edvard, Dina's Father
Pernilla August	...	Hjertrud, Dina's Mother
Amanda Jean Kvakland	...	Little Dina
Hans Matheson	...	Tomas
Jørgen Langhelle	...	Anders
Mads Mikkelsen	...	Niels
Wenche Foss	...	Mistress Karen
Søren Sætter-Lassen	...	Lorch
Kate Hardie	...	Stine
Bodil Udsen	...	Olivia
Mateen Sandvik Ram	...	Little Thomas
Eli Anne Linnestad	...	Housekeeper

Storyline

In Northern Norway during the 1860s, a little girl named Dina accidentally causes her mother's death. Overcome with grief, her father refuses to raise her, leaving her in the care of the household servants. Dina grows up wild and unmanageable, with her only friend being the stable boy, Tomas. She summons her mother's ghost and develops a strange fascination with death as well as a passion for living. Family friend Jacob encourages Dina's father to hire Lorch, a tutor who introduces her to the cello. When Dina is old enough, she marries Jacob and moves to Reinsnes, a port he runs with his mother, Karen, and his stepsons Niels and Anders . Niels doesn't like Dina's wild ways, or the fact that she has taken over accounting duties at Reinsnes. Dina's eccentric tendencies become even stronger, eventually leading Jacob into an accident of his own and bringing Tomas back into her life.

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Plot Keywords:

19th century | accounting | norway | 1860s | first time sex | 

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Taglines:

This is my story

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Official Sites:

Bluecom AS (norwegian, english) [Norway]

Country:

Norway Sweden France Germany Denmark

Language:

English Norwegian French

Release Date:

8 March 2002 (Norway)

Also Known As:

Dina

Filming Locations:

Kjerringøy, Bodø, Nordland, Norway

Box Office

Budget:

NOK 141,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

ApolloMedia Distribution, Felicia Film, Gemini Film

Technical Specs

Runtime:

125 min 122 min (DVD)

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Norway's official submission to the 75th Academy Awards for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.

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Quotes

Dina's Father: He's to be called Jacob of course?
Dina: No, he's not. He's to be called Benjamin.
Dina's Father: Benjamin? Nobody in our family has ever been called "Benjamin".
Dina: You can brawl all you like, it will be as I say.

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Alternate Versions

The "International version" contains a different ending than the original version.

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Soundtracks

Film III
Written and Performed by Jorane

User Reviews

Worth checking out.

Norwegian Herbjørg Wassmos bestseller is turned into an unorthodox costume drama by the director of "Night Watch", Danish Ole Bornedal. Overwrought, but fast paced drama tells the story of Dina, a young girl who was way ahead of her time, and her influence on the men in her life, her stern father (Floberg), husband Jacob (Depardieu, in great form), and Russian lover Leo (Eccleston, sporting as dubious a Russian accent as Sean Connery did in The Hunt for Red October...). Dina is played by Maria Bonnevie, who turns in a wild-eyed, over-the-top performance that is alternately frightening and fascinating (think Liv Tyler with a bad caffeine addiction). Major liabilities are the shifting accents, due to the film´s cast of mostly Northern European actors. This is a distraction, and would have worked better just sticking to Norwegian actors, but then, no one would probably go see "I Am Dina". Many Danish character actors appear in bit parts; you can spot them by their dodgy accents...although Sætter-Lassen and Mikkelsen stand out positively as cello tutor Lorch and the treacherous bookkeeper Niels. Beautiful locations and lush cinematography by Dan Laustsen, a Bernard Herrmann-inspired music score by Marco Beltrami help this a long way. Plenty of sex and violence that you wouldn´t find in a Merchant-Ivory working of the same theme, the film is more reminiscent in tone and execution to Luc Besson´s "Joan of Arc", but just as uneven.

Best scene has young Dina introduced to the magic of the cello. 6/10.