''Hamsun'' is a 1996 internationally co-produced

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

directed by

Jan Troell Jan Gustaf Troell (born 23 July 1931) is a Swedish writer-director, and cinematographer. His realistic films, with a lyrical photography in which nature is prominent, have placed him in the first rank of modern Swedish film directors along with I ...

, about the later life of the Norwegian author

Knut Hamsun Knut Hamsun (4 August 1859 – 19 February 1952) was a Norwegian writer who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1920. Hamsun's work spans more than 70 years and shows variation with regard to consciousness, subject, perspective a ...

(

Max von Sydow Max von Sydow ( , ; born Carl Adolf von Sydow; 10 April 1929 – 8 March 2020) was a Swedish-French actor. He had a 70-year career in European and American cinema, television, and theatre, appearing in more than 150 films and several television ...

), who, together with his wife

Marie Hamsun Marie Hamsun (born Marie Andersen) (19 November 1881 – 4 August 1969) was a Norwegian actress and writer. Biography Marie Andersen was born in Elverum, Hedmark, Norway. She was the eldest child in an affluent family. In 1897 the family moved t ...

(

Ghita Nørby Ghita Nørby (born 11 January 1935) is a Danish actress with 117 film credits to her name from 1956 to 2005, making her one of the most active Danish actresses ever. Early life Nørby was born in Copenhagen, Denmark, the daughter of opera singer ...

), went from being a national hero to a traitor after supporting Nazi

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

during their

occupation of Norway The occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany during the Second World War began on 9 April 1940 after Operation Weserübung. Conventional armed resistance to the German invasion ended on 10 June 1940, and Nazi Germany controlled Norway until the ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. Sydow and Nørby speak in their native

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 ...

and

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish a ...

respectively, though there is a scene where he speaks English and several where she speaks German; the rest of the cast speak

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 ...

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

. The film won the

Guldbagge Award The Guldbagge Awards ( sv, Guldbaggen, en, Gold scarab) is an official and annual Swedish film awards ceremony honoring achievements in the Swedish film industry. Winners are awarded a statuette depicting a rose chafer, better known by the name ...

s for

Best Film This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards. Best Actor/Best Actress *See Best Actor#Film awards, Best Actress#F ...

, Best Actor (Sydow),

Best Actress Best Actress is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organisations, festivals, and people's awards to leading actresses in a film, television series, television film or play. The first Best Actress aw ...

(Nørby) and Best Screenplay (

Enquist Enquist is a surname of Swedish origin which may refer to: * Jan Enquist, Swedish rear admiral * Jeff Enquist, American soccer player * Lynn W. Enquist, American professor in molecular biology * Oskar Enquist, Imperial Russian vice admiral of Swedi ...

). The film was selected as the Danish entry for the

Best Foreign Language Film This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards. Best Actor/Best Actress *See Best Actor#Film awards, Best Actress#F ...

at the

69th Academy Awards The 69th Academy Awards ceremony, organized by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) took place on March 24, 1997, at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles beginning at 6:00 p.m. PST / 9:00 p.m. EST. During the ceremo ...

, but was not shortlisted as a nominee.Margaret Herrick Library, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

Cast

* Anette Hoff as Ellinor Hamsun * Gard B. Eidsvold as

Arild Hamsun Arild () is a locality situated in Höganäs Municipality, Skåne County, Sweden with 522 inhabitants in 2010. It is located in the bay of Skälderviken in north-western Scania, approximately 30 km north of Helsingborg in Sweden. Arild belon ...

* Eindride Eidsvold as

Tore Hamsun Tore Hamsun (6 March 1912 – 10 January 1995) was a Norwegian painter, writer, and publisher born in Hamarøy. He was the son of the Nobel Prize winning novelist Knut Hamsun and actress Marie Hamsun. At the age of five, his family moved f ...

* Åsa Söderling as Cecilia Hamsun * Sverre Anker Ousdal as

Vidkun Quisling Vidkun Abraham Lauritz Jonssøn Quisling (, ; 18 July 1887 – 24 October 1945) was a Norwegian military officer, politician and Nazi collaborator who nominally headed the government of Norway during the country's occupation by Nazi Germ ...

* Liv Steen as

Maria Quisling Maria Quisling, born Maria Vasilyevna Pasek or Pasetchnikova Dahl (1991), p.93 (10 October 1900 – 17 January 1980), was known as the wife of the Norwegian fascist politician Vidkun Quisling, but historians have doubts on whether the couple were ...

Erik Hivju Erik Hivju (born 24 September 1947) is a Norwegian actor. Hivju has appeared in more than a dozen television series, as well as several films. He is the father of the Norwegian actor Kristofer Hivju. Selected filmography * '' Lukket avdeling'' ...

as Dr.

Gabriel Langfeldt Gabriel Langfeldt (23 December 1895 – 28 October 1983) was a Norwegian psychiatrist. He was a professor at the University of Oslo from 1940 to 1965. His publications centered on schizophrenia and forensic medicine. He was involved as an exper ...

Edgar Selge Edgar Selge (born 27 March 1948) is a German actor and writer. Selge was born in Brilon in 1949, the son of a prison warden, grew up in Herford. He studied philosophy and German in Munich and Dublin as well as classical piano in Vienna. He gradu ...

Josef Terboven Josef Terboven (23 May 1898 – 8 May 1945) was a Nazi Party official and politician who was the long-serving ''Gauleiter'' of Gau Essen and the ''Reichskommissar'' for Norway during the German occupation. Early life Terboven was born in Essen ...

Ernst Jacobi Ernst Gerhard Ludwig Jacobi-Scherbening, professionally called Ernst Jacobi (; 11 July 1933 – 23 June 2022), was a German actor. He was known for serious character roles, especially in the 1979 film ''The Tin Drum'' (''Die Blechtrommel''), as ...

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...

Svein Erik Brodal Svein Erik Brodal (born 21 February 1939 in Østre Toten, Oppland) is a Norwegian actor, theatre director, poet, novelist and politician. He made his stage debut at Det Norske Teatret in 1960, and served as theatre director from 1979 to 1990. He w ...

as Egil Holmboe *

Per Jansen Per Johan Jansen (14 December 1941 – 8 August 2022) was a Norwegian stage and film actor. Life and career Jansen was born in Bergen on 14 December 1941. He made his stage debut at Det Norske Teatret in 1966. He later had assignments at Oslo ...

Harald Grieg Harald Grieg (3 August 1894 – 6 October 1972) was a Norwegian publisher. He was director of Gyldendal Norsk Forlag and for many years was a leading figure in the Norwegian book industry. Biography Grieg was born in Bergen, Norway. He was the ...

Jesper Christensen Jesper Christensen (; born 16 May 1948) is a Danish actor. A veteran of European cinema, he has more recently made the transition to English language projects, including ''The Interpreter'' and '' Revelations''. He has also appeared as the mys ...

Otto Dietrich Jacob Otto Dietrich (31 August 1897 – 22 November 1952) was a German SS officer during the Nazi era, who served as the Press Chief of the Nazi regime and was a confidant of Adolf Hitler. Biography Otto Dietrich was born in Essen, he served a ...

Johannes Joner Johannes is a Medieval Latin form of the personal name that usually appears as "John (name), John" in English language contexts. It is a variant of the Greek and Classical Latin variants (Ιωάννης, ''Ioannes (given name), Ioannes''), itself ...

as Finn Christensen * Finn Schau -

Ørnulv Ødegård Ørnulv Ødegård (12 April 1901 – 23 February 1983) was a Norwegian psychiatrist. He was the director of Gaustad Hospital from 1938 to 1972. He was involved as an expert during the trial against Hamsun. He is known for his studies on ...

Production

The plans for the film have a history from 1979, when

Thorkild Hansen Thorkild Hansen (9 January 1927 – 4 February 1989) was a Danish novelist most noted for his historical fiction. He is popularly known for his trilogy of novels about the Danish slave trade which is composed of '' Coast of Slaves'' (1967), '' S ...

, the author of the book '' Processen mod Hamsun'' contacted Troell since he wanting him to direct a Norwegian television series based on the book. Max von Sydow was meant to do the part as Hamsun already then, but

NRK NRK, an abbreviation of the Norwegian ''Norsk Rikskringkasting Aksjeselskap, AS'', generally expressed in English as the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation, is the Norwegian government-owned radio and television public broadcasting company, and ...

dropped out on the project in the belief that it would be too controversial. Fourteen years later, in 1993, von Sydow brought the project back to life when he got the Danish production company

Nordisk Film Nordisk Film A/S (lit. "Nordic Film") is a Danish entertainment company established in 1906 in Copenhagen by filmmaker Ole Olsen. It is the fourth-oldest film studio in the world behind the Gaumont Film Company, Pathé, and Titanus ...

interested in adapting the book, this time with

Per Olov Enquist Per Olov Enquist, also known as P. O. Enquist, (23 September 1934 – 25 April 2020) was a Swedish author. He had worked as a journalist, playwright and novelist. Biography Enquist was born and raised in , a village in present-day Skellef ...

, who had written Troell's previous film ''

Il Capitano Il Capitano (, Italian for "The Captain") is one of the four stock characters of ''Commedia dell'arte.'' He most likely was never a "Captain" but rather appropriated the name for himself. He is often a braggart and a swaggerer who can maint ...

'', providing the screenplay. The shooting took place during the spring and the summer of 1995, with a budget of around 40 million SEK. Noteworthy is that the most expensive scene filmed in which Marie Hamsun witnesses the attack and the sinking of the German cruiser ''Blücher'' in the

Oslofjord The Oslofjord (, ; en, Oslo Fjord) is an inlet in the south-east of Norway, stretching from an imaginary line between the and lighthouses and down to in the south to Oslo in the north. It is part of the Skagerrak strait, connecting the Nor ...

at the

Battle of Drøbak Sound The Battle of Drøbak Sound took place in Drøbak Sound, the northernmost part of the outer Oslofjord in southern Norway, on 9 April 1940. It marked the end of the " Phoney War" and the beginning of World War II in Western Europe. A German fle ...

on 9 April 1940, was cut from the finished product.Summary at Svenskfilmdatabas.se
(in Swedish) ''

Swedish Film Institute The Swedish Film Institute ( sv, Svenska Filminstitutet) was founded in 1963 to support and develop the Swedish film industry. The institute is housed in the ''Filmhuset'' building located in Gärdet, Östermalm in Stockholm. The building, comp ...

Release

The film was initially meant to be released in the autumn 1996 at the

Venice Film Festival The Venice Film Festival or Venice International Film Festival ( it, Mostra Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica della Biennale di Venezia, "International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art of the Venice Biennale") is an annual film festival he ...

, but was brought forward to the spring as Norwegian television would release another film about Hamsun the same year. It also saved the film from having to compete against

Bille August Bille August (born 9 November 1948) is a Danish director, screenwriter, and cinematographer of film and television. In a career spanning over four decades, he has been the recipient of numerous accolades, making him one of the most acclaimed co ...

's historical epic ''

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

''. During the Swedish release Troell and the producer heavily criticized the distributor,

Svensk Filmindustri SF Studios is a Swedish film and television production and distribution company (both Swedish and international) with headquarters in Stockholm and local offices in Oslo, Copenhagen, Helsinki and London. The studio is owned by Nordic media cong ...

, for the sloppy handling of the film, something he had also experienced with his previous film ''Il Capitano''.

References

External links

* * {{GuldbaggeAwardBestFilm 1996 films 1996 drama films Swedish drama films Norwegian drama films 1990s Norwegian-language films 1990s Swedish-language films 1990s Danish-language films Films set in Norway Films directed by Jan Troell Best Film Guldbagge Award winners Knut Hamsun Films about Nobel laureates Danish World War II films Biographical films about writers 1996 multilingual films Danish multilingual films Danish drama films German drama films Swedish World War II films Norwegian World War II films German World War II films 1990s German films 1990s Swedish films

Cast

Production

Release

See also

References

External links