''Edvard Munch'' () is a 1974

biographical film A biographical film or biopic () is a film that dramatizes the life of a non-fictional or historically-based person or people. Such films show the life of a historical person and the central character's real name is used. They differ from docudra ...

about the

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe * Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway * Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including ...

Expressionist Expressionism is a modernist movement, initially in poetry and painting, originating in Northern Europe around the beginning of the 20th century. Its typical trait is to present the world solely from a subjective perspective, distorting it rad ...

painter Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ai ...

Edvard Munch Edvard Munch ( , ; 12 December 1863 – 23 January 1944) was a Norwegian painter. His best known work, ''The Scream'' (1893), has become one of Western art's most iconic images. His childhood was overshadowed by illness, bereavement and the dr ...

, written and directed by English filmmaker

Peter Watkins Peter Watkins (born 29 October 1935) is an English film and television director. He was born in Norbiton, Surrey, lived in Sweden, Canada and Lithuania for many years, and now lives in France. He is one of the pioneers of docudrama. His films ...

. It was originally created as a three-part

miniseries A miniseries or mini-series is a television series that tells a story in a predetermined, limited number of episodes. "Limited series" is another more recent US term which is sometimes used interchangeably. , the popularity of miniseries format h ...

co-produced by the Norwegian and

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

state

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...

networks NRK and SVT, but subsequently gained an American theatrical release in a three-hour version in 1976. The film covers about thirty years of Munch's life, focusing on the influences that shaped his art, particularly the prevalence of disease and death in his family and his youthful affair with a married woman. The film was screened at the 1976 Cannes Film Festival, but wasn't entered into the main competition.

Style

Like Watkins' other films, ''Edvard Munch'' uses a

docudrama Docudrama (or documentary drama) is a genre of television and film, which features dramatized re-enactments of actual events. It is described as a hybrid of documentary and drama and "a fact-based representation of real event". Docudramas typic ...

approach; scenes from Munch's life are re-enacted by a large cast (mostly Norwegian non-professional actors), but there is also a voiceover narration by Watkins, and there are moments when the characters speak directly to camera, as if being interviewed about their own lives or their opinions of Munch. Some of the dialogue was improvised by the cast, especially in the interview segments. To convey the hostile response Munch's work often received during his lifetime, Watkins recruited Norwegians who genuinely disliked the paintings.

Distribution and responses

After its initial broadcast, the film was briefly an international success but was not widely available for many years afterward. Watkins has said that network officials tried to suppress its distribution, and tried to bar it from competition in the

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films o ...

, because they disapproved of its use of non-professional actors and anachronistic dialogue. After NRK relinquished rights to the film in 2002, it gained a wider international release.

Ingmar Bergman Ernst Ingmar Bergman (14 July 1918 – 30 July 2007) was a Swedish film director, screenwriter, Film producer, producer and playwright. Widely considered one of the greatest and most influential filmmakers of all time, his films are known ...

called the film a "work of genius".

Cast

*Geir Westby as

*Gro Fraas as Fru Heiberg *Johan Halsbog as Dr. Christian Munch *Lotte Teig as Laura Cathrine Bjølstad *Gro Jarto as Laura Cathrine Munch *Rachel Pedersen as Inger Marie Munch *Berit Rytter Hasle as Laura Munch *Gunnar Skjetne as Peter Andreas Munch *Kare Stormark as

Hans Jæger Hans Henrik Jæger (2 September 1854, Drammen, Norway – 8 February 1910, Oslo) was a Norwegian writer, philosopher and anarchist political activist who was part of the Oslo (then Kristiania)-based bohemian group known as the Kristiania Bohe ...

* Eli Ryg as

Oda Lasson Oda Krohg (born Othilia Pauline Christine Lasson; 11 June 1860 – 19 October 1935) was a Norwegian painter, and the wife of her teacher and colleague Christian Krohg. Biography She was the second daughter of public attorney Christian ...

*Iselin Bast as Dagny Juell *Alf Kåre Strindberg as

August Strindberg Johan August Strindberg (, ; 22 January 184914 May 1912) was a Swedish playwright, novelist, poet, essayist and painter.Lane (1998), 1040. A prolific writer who often drew directly on his personal experience, Strindberg wrote more than sixty p ...

*Eric Allum as Edvard - 1868 *Amund Berge as Edvard - 1875 *Kerstii Allum as Sophie - 1868 *Inger-Berit Oland as Sophie - 1875 *Susan Troldmyr as Laura - 1868 *Camilla Falk as Laura - 1875 *Ragnvald Caspari as Peter - 1868 *Erik Kristiansen as Peter - 1875 *Katja Pedersen as Inger - 1868 *Anne-Marie Dæhli as Inger - 1875

References

External links

Notes on ''Edvard Munch'' on Peter Watkin's website
* *
Stanford Museum document on screening of film
{{authority control 1974 films 1970s biographical drama films 1970s English-language films Films directed by Peter Watkins 1970s French-language films 1970s Norwegian-language films Biographical films about painters Films set in the 1890s Films set in Norway Swedish biographical drama films Norwegian biographical drama films Cultural depictions of Edvard Munch Cultural depictions of August Strindberg 1974 drama films 1974 multilingual films Norwegian multilingual films Swedish multilingual films 1970s Swedish films