Swedish film

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Swedish film history is a diverse and changeable part of the international film culture . It ranges from the early works of art in silent films to documentary films from the 1950s and the innovative auteur cinema Ingmar Bergmans to the international successes of Lukas Moodysson and Björn Runge in recent years .

history

The silent movie era

The regular production of feature films began in Sweden around 1910. The film producer Charles Magnusson , director of the film production company Svensk Filmindustri, is considered a defining pioneer of this time . Two directors, Victor Sjöström and Mauritz Stiller , both discovered by Magnusson and engaged for Svensk Filmindustri, emerged and achieved world fame in the early 1920s with the film adaptation of two literary works by Selma Lagerlöf : Mr. Arnes Schatz (Mr. Arnes pengar) (1919) and The Carter of Death (Körkarlen) (1921). The Ibsen film Terje Vigen (1917) is also one of the outstanding works from this period. The special thing about the Swedish silent film was the use of the Swedish landscape as a natural backdrop in connection with topics of Swedish literature and Swedish folk tradition, whereby a realistic attitude prevailed. This mixture brought the Swedish silent film international recognition and financial success.

The two directors and the star Greta Garbo , discovered by Stiller, moved to Hollywood in the mid-1920s . At the same time, the film industry got into financial difficulties.

The 1930s and 1940s

The sound film in the early 1930s led to economic stabilization, but at the expense of artistic and international ambitions. Provincial and popular comedies without any artistic claim were intended for their own market. It was not until the Second World War , during which the film was given an important task in psychological defense, that there was an artistic boom again, which was mainly supported by two directors: Alf Sjöberg and Hasse Ekman .

The 1950s

After the Second World War, the financial situation was less secure, but this tended to favor the artistic quality. Four film companies competed with each other and in the following decade allowed their employees a relatively large amount of artistic freedom. Arne Sucksdorff received a number of international prizes for his documentary films, including an Oscar for People in the City (Människor i stad) (1948), Alf Sjöberg achieved the first great international success for the Swedish feature film when he won the Grand Prize in Venice in 1951 for Miss Julie (Fröken Julie) received. The following year, Arne Mattsson caused a sensation with Sie danced just one summer (Hon dansade bara en sommar) in Berlin , where he won the Golden Bear at the 1952 Berlinale . The most brilliant career, however, was made by Ingmar Bergman , who had great success in Cannes in 1956 with The Smile of a Summer Night (Sommernattens leende) , two years later won the Golden Bear in Berlin with Wilde Erdbeeren (Smultronstället) and subsequently won the Oscar for best three times foreign language film ( Die Jungfrauenquelle [ Jungfrukällan ], As in a mirror [ Såsom i en spegel ] and Fanny and Alexander [ Fanny och Alexander ]) was able to receive. Incidentally, Fanny and Alexander , Bergman's last film, won another three Oscars.

The Swedish film industry fell into another crisis at the end of the 1950s, triggered by television. The number of moviegoers decreased, as did the production companies' willingness to take risks. A new genre emerged, which was a harbinger of the erotically revealing films for which she danced just one summer . Children's films, especially Olle Hellbom's adaptations of Astrid Lindgren's books, were also a crowd puller .

From the 1960s to the 1980s

A film reform in 1963 saved Swedish quality film. In an agreement between the Swedish state and the film industry, the 25% entertainment tax on cinema tickets has been abandoned, while cinema owners pay 10% of their income to the Swedish Film Institute . The Swedish Film Institute, which also receives grants from the state, supports the production of Swedish films in various ways.

In 1963 a Swedish film award was also created, the Guldbagge , which is awarded in 14 categories. In this new film climate, new, young directors could make their debut, such as Vilgot Sjöman , Bo Widerberg , Jan Troell and Lasse Hallström , who later went to Hollywood. In the 1970s and 1980s, women such as Mai Zetterling , Marianne Ahrne , Suzanne Osten , Marie Luise Ekman and others also took over. a. directed and were able to achieve great success.

The contemporary film

Swedish feature film production
year number
1975 20th
1985 17th
1995 15th
2005 54

The production conditions for Swedish film have changed a lot over the past decade. New technical possibilities through video technology and digitization as well as the close integration with other players in the media market has led to a significant increase in feature film productions in recent years. At the same time, film production has shifted from Stockholm to regional production centers, of which Film i Väst , also known as Trollywood , is the best known near Trollhättan . Films like Fucking Åmål , Dancer in the Dark and Dogville were shot there.

In the last few decades, foreign directors in Sweden have made very "Swedish" films, such as Colin Nutley and Bille August , whose Pelle the Conqueror (Pelle Erövraren) won an Oscar in 1988 for best foreign language film. At the same time, the second generation of immigrants has established themselves as filmmakers. Examples of this are wings made of glass (Vingar av glas) by Reza Bagher and Jalla! Yeah! by Josef Fares .

One of the most important directors in recent years is Lukas Moodysson , who not only achieved a great audience success in Sweden with his first film Raus aus Åmål (Fucking Åmål) (1998), which he repeated with the films Together (Tillsammans) and Lilja 4-ever , but with which he also won a number of awards.

Björn Runge had international success in 2003 with his film Dawn (Om jag vänder mig om) , including at the 2004 Berlinale.

Wie im Himmel (Så som i Himmelen) is the latest successful Swedish film from 2004 by director Kay Pollak - shot in Sweden and Tyrol , nominated for an Oscar for best non-English language film. The main actors are Frida Hallgren and Michael Nyqvist as well as the Swedish musicalstar Helen Sjöholm with brilliant vocals.

Swedish Oscar winner

List of Swedish directors

Lasse Åberg , Mac Ahlberg , Per Åhlin , Marianne Ahrne , Jonas Åkerlund , Daniel Alfredson , Hans Alfredson , Roy Andersson , Reza Bagher , Daniel Bergman , Eva Bergman , Ingmar Bergman , Maria Blom , Jonas Cornell , Tage Danielsson , Johan Donner , Hasse Ekman , Marie-Louise Ekman , Teresa Fabik , Josef Fares , Lars-Lennart Forsberg , Daniel Fridell , Kjell Grede , Mikael Håfström , Lasse Hallström , Olle Hellbom , Richard Hobert , Stefan Jarl , Nils Jerring , Mikael Kristersson , Ella Lemhagen , Daniel Lind Lagerlöf , Gunnel Lindblom , Lars-Magnus Lindgren , Jan Lindkvist , Oscar AC Lund , Ulf Malmros , Arne Mattsson , Gustaf Molander , Lukas Moodysson , Cecilia Neant-Falk , Colin Nutley , Sven Nykvist , Lisa Ohlin , Christina Olofson , Suzanne Osten , Reza Parsa , Kay Pollak , Björn Runge , Alf Sjöberg , Vilgot Sjöman , Victor Sjöström , Johan Söderberg , Mauritz Stiller , Arne Sucksdorff , Kjell Sundvall , Karin Swanström , Peter Torbiörnsson , Jan Troell , Maj Wechselmann , Bo Wid erberg , May Zetterling

List of important or well-known Swedish films

Films with the main production country Sweden and almost exclusively the Swedish original language are shown

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ World film production report (excerpt) (PDF; 280 kB), Screen Digest, June 2006, pp. 205–207 (accessed on June 15, 2007)