Bo Widerberg's New Swedish cinema : Elvira Madigan ; The baby carriage ; Raven's end ; Ådalen 31 / The Criterion Collection presents ; written and directed by Bo Widerberg.
Edition:
Blu-ray special edition
Publisher:
The Criterion Collection,
Copyright Date:
2023
Description:
4 videodiscs (399 minutes) : sound, black and white, color ; 4 3/4 in. + 1 booklet (32 pages : illustrations (some color) ; 17 cm)
Container of (work): Barnvagnen (Motion picture) Container of (work): Kvarteret Korpen (Motion picture) Container of (work): Elvira Madigan (Motion picture) Container of (work): Ådalen 31 (Motion picture) Elvira Madigan. Baby carriage. Raven's end. Ådalen 31.
Notes:
The Baby Carriage: Inger Taube, Tommy Berggren, Lars Passgård, Ulla Akselson, Lena Brundin, Stig Torstensson, Gunnar Öhlund, Bill Jo̊nsson, Nina Widerberg. Raven's End: Tommy Berggren, Keve Hjelm, Emy Storm, Ingvar Hirdwall, Christina Frambäck, Agneta Prytz, Nina Widerberg. Elvira Madigan: Pia Degermark, Tommy Berggren, Lennart Malmer, Cleo Jensen, Nina Widerberg. Ådalen 31: Peter Schildt, Kerstin Tidelius, Roland Hedlund, Marie De Geer, Anita Björk, Olof Bergström, Jonas Bergström. Title from container. The baby carriage and Raven's end originally released as motion pictures in 1963. Elvira Madigan originally released as a motion picture in 1967. Ådalen 31 originally released as a motion picture in 1969. The baby carriage Full screen (1.33:1) Raven's end Full screen (1.37:1) Elvira Madigan Wide screen (1.66:1) Ådalen 31 Wide screen (2.39:1) Accompanied by 32 page booklet. Special features: new restorations of all four films, with uncompressed monoaural soundtracks; new introduction to director Bo Widerberg by filmmaker Ruben Östlund; new interviews with actor Tommy Berggren and cinematographer Jörgen Persson; "The boy and the kite" (1962), a short film by Widerberg and Jan Troell, with an introduction by Troell; Swedish television interviews with Widerberg from the 1960s; behind-the-scenes footage from the making of "Elvira Madigan"; an essay by film historian Peter Crowe and excerpts from Widerberg's 1962 book "Vision in Swedish Film."
The Baby Carriage: Infused with a jazzy, nouvelle vague-inspired energy, Bo Widerberg's feature debut has the freshness of youth. Building on his film criticism's call for a socially relevant Swedish cinema, the writer turned director offers a vivid portrait of a young factory worker finding her way toward independence as she weathers unexpected pregnancy, learns hard lessons from relationships with two very different men, and leaves behind the only home she has ever known. Abetted by fellow filmmaker Jan Troell's coolly beautiful monochrome cinematography, Widerberg takes a bold first step in his mission to create a cinema that is both engaged and engaging. Raven's End: A period piece that forgoes nostalgia in favor of a stark examination of working-class struggle, Bo Widerberg's second feature unfolds in 1936 in the director's hometown of Malmö. It's there, in the poor district of Raven's End, that young Anders chases his dream of becoming a writer while growing increasingly disillusioned with the dead-end world that surrounds him: an alcoholic father, a toiling mother, and the ominous specter of Nazism. Delivering a bracing jolt of kitchen-sink realism to Swedish cinema, Widerberg paints an unsparing portrait of youthful idealism bumping up against economic despair. Elvira Madigan: Bo Widerberg reached new heights of visual lyricism with the sublime retelling of a real-life nineteenth-century romantic tragedy. Bound by their all-consuming desire, a young circus tightrope walker and a lieutenant with a wife and children forsake everything to be together and escape to the countryside, only to see their lovers' idyll gradually give way to poverty and desperation. With its painterly, sun-dappled images and indelible use of Mozart's Piano Concerto no. 21, this 1960s art-house sensation is the most ravishing expression of Widerberg's recurring theme of the tension between individual freedom and social responsibility. Ådalen 31: One of Bo Widerberg's most explicitly political works imbues the true story of a 1931 labor strike with a powerful contemporary resonance. In the industrial district of Ådalen, in the north of Sweden, a peaceful demonstration takes a tragic turn, leading to a historical general strike. Amid these events, the teenage Kjell experiences sacrifice and strife, love and loss, and the consequences of this shocking violence. Working once again with Elvira Madigan cinematographer Jörgen Persson, who captures shimmering, light-filled images in graceful widescreen, Widerberg entwines a stirring portrait of resistance with an intimate coming-of-age journey for a vision of history that feels vibrantly, urgently alive.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.