''Brenda Brave'' (original title: ''Kajsa Kavat'') is a 1989 Swedish film directed by

Daniel Bergman Daniel Sebastian Bergman (; born 7 September 1962) is a Swedish film director. He is the son of Ingmar Bergman and Käbi Laretei. As a child, Bergman appeared in a 1967 Swedish program called ''Stimulantia'', which consisted of eight episodes, ...

and based on the 1950 novel '' Brenda Brave Helps Grandmother'' by

Astrid Lindgren Astrid Anna Emilia Lindgren (; ; 14 November 1907 – 28 January 2002) was a Swedish writer of fiction and screenplays. She is best known for several children's book series, featuring Pippi Longstocking, Emil of Lönneberga, Karlsson-on- ...

Plot

As a baby, Brenda is placed in front of a door. On a note says: „Please take care of this child, because nobody else will do it“. Since then, Brenda calls the woman, who took care of her, „grandmother“. Brenda and her grandma are happy to have each other. Together, they go to the market to sell the candies that Brenda's grandma makes. Furthermore, Brenda befriends with the boy Adrian, who also has a table in the market. On the way home, Brenda admires a doll in the shop window. However, her grandmother tells her that she can not buy the doll now because it is too expensive. At the evening, Brenda's grandmother tells a story of an angel, carrying two candles and a book. Brenda wonders how that is possible, if the angel has only two hands. One day, Brenda's grandmother breaks her leg. She can no longer take care of Brenda. Now Brenda starts to take care of her grandma. She keeps the flat clean and sells the candies on the market. As a Christmas present, Brenda receives the doll she had admired in the shop window. Her grandmother is grateful that Brenda is such a sweet and good child. Meanwhile, Brenda remembers the angel with the two candles and the book. She tells her grandma that she would like to see the angel. At Christmas night, Brenda gets up and looks out the window. The garden is full of angels.

Cast

*Mathilda Lindgren as Brenda *Majlis Granlund as Grandmother *

Harriet Andersson Harriet Andersson (born 14 February 1932) is a Swedish actress, best known outside Sweden for being part of director Ingmar Bergman's stock company. She often plays impulsive, working class characters. Film actress Harriet Andersson began her ...

as Mrs. Larsson *

Birgitta Andersson Ulla Birgitta Helena Andersson (born ''Andersson''; 20 April 1933) is a Swedish actress and comedian. Career Andersson made her breakthrough by acting in various variety shows with Povel Ramel and Karl Gerhard. She was part of the group around H ...

as Mrs. Boman *

Inger Nilsson Karin Inger Monica Nilsson (born 4 May 1959) is a Swedish actress and singer. She is a former child actress. She is primarily known for her portrayal of Pippi Longstocking in the Swedish-produced TV series of the same name during 1969 which was ...

as Juliana *Andreas Melchert as Adrian *

Mimi Pollak Maria Helena "Mimi" Pollak (9 April 1903 – 11 August 1999) was a Swedish actress and theatre director. Biography Maria Helena Pollak was born in Karlstad, Värmland to Austrian-Jewish parents and was trained in the performing arts at the ...

as market lady *

Maud Hyttenberg Maud Hyttenberg (26 April 1920 – 8 March 2009) was a Swedish actress. She was born in Stockholm. She appeared in several films and television series, including 1970's ''The Lustful Vicar''. She died in March 2009. Selected filmography * '' ...

as market lady * Percy Brandt as mayor *

Marika Lindström Marika Lindström (born 25 November 1946) is a Swedish actress who has appeared in numerous films in her native Sweden as well as appearing in TV shows such as ''Emma åklagare'' and ''Tre kärlekar''. Marika Lindström has long been a part of th ...

as Rosa's mother

Background

''Brenda Brave'' was first broadcast on 25 February 1989 in Sweden. It was later released on Swedish and German DVDs. The film was also translated into English and was shown with English subtitles at several film festivals, like the

Zlín Film Festival Zlín Film Festival, also known as the International Film Festival for Children and Youth ( cs, Mezinárodní festival filmů pro děti a mládež) is an annual festival of children's film in Zlín in the Czech Republic. Founded in 1961 in the ...

Reception

Critical response

Anna Zamolska from ''KinderundJugendmedien.de'' believes, that the film looks like a beautiful picture book made from

Ilon Wikland Maire-Ilon Wikland (née Pääbo; born February 5, 1930) is an Estonian-born Swedish artist and illustrator. Wikland was born in Tartu, Estonia and raised in Haapsalu, Lääne County on Estonia's Baltic coast. In 1944 she escaped with the family ...

-illustrations and old photographs. Furthermore, the film had been made very child-friendly. Thus, the film is made with only a few cuts and takes time for ordinary, everyday operations. The close-up of Brenda would give the children the opportunity to empathize with Brenda. In addition, Mathilda Lindgren offers an impressive representation of Brenda. She is convincing from the first scene of the film and acts as naturally in front of the camera as if it was not there. That makes the film still worth seeing today. There is also a small scene with the then adult

Pippi Longstocking Pippi Longstocking ( sv, Pippi Långstrump) is the fictional main character in an eponymous series of children's books by Swedish author Astrid Lindgren. Pippi was named by Lindgren's daughter Karin, who asked her mother for a get-well story wh ...

actress

in the film.

References

External links

* {{Media based on Astrid Lindgren works Swedish children's films 1980s Swedish-language films 1988 films Films based on works by Astrid Lindgren Swedish short films 1980s Swedish films