''Raven's End'' ( sv, Kvarteret Korpen) is a 1963 Swedish

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

Bo Widerberg Bo Gunnar Widerberg (; 8 June 1930 – 1 May 1997) was a Sweden, Swedish film director, screenwriter, writer, film editing, editor and actor. Biography Early life Widerberg was born in Malmö, Malmöhus County, Sweden. Career Widerberg was th ...

, about an aspiring working-class writer in

Malmö Malmö (, ; da, Malmø ) is the largest city in the Swedish county (län) of Scania (Skåne). It is the third-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm and Gothenburg, and the sixth-largest city in the Nordic region, with a municipal populat ...

. The story bears some similarities to Widerberg's own background, although he claimed it to be entirely fictional.

Plot

In the mid 1930s, Anders is dreaming about becoming a writer. His friend Sixten is dreaming about becoming a

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

player so he can go to

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

and meet prostitutes in fur. Anders' ambitions are supported by his girlfriend Elsie and his parents. His mother supports the family by doing laundry, while his father is unemployed and has a problem with alcohol and gambling. Anders sends a script for a book he has written about the block they live in to a publisher in

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

. He is asked to come to Stockholm and discuss the book, which makes his father excited. But the publisher doesn't want to publish the book, and when Anders returns they all become very disappointed. Elsie becomes pregnant with Anders' child. Anders seeks advice from his father, but the father is drunk and they end up fighting. The father blames his wife for all the misery they are suffering from, meaning it's all because he was humiliated by an affair she once had. The mother blames the father, meaning it was his violent behaviour that caused her infidelity. Anders decides to leave his family, his pregnant girlfriend and all misery behind. He joins Sixten and they both travel to Stockholm.

Cast

Thommy Berggren Thommy Berggren, né Tommy William Berggren (born 12 August 1937) is a Swedish actor. He is known for having starred in several films directed by Bo Widerberg, and was often considered one of the foremost Swedish film and theatre actors from t ...

as Anders *

Keve Hjelm Karl Evert "Keve" Hjelm (23 June 1922 – 3 February 2004) was a Swedish actor and film director. He appeared in 70 films between 1943 and 2004. At the 1st Guldbagge Awards he won the award for Guldbagge Award for Best Actor in a Leading Rol ...

as His Father *

Emy Storm Emmy Karolina Fyhring-Ljungberg (née Storm; 20 May 1925 – 24 November 2014), known professionally as Emy Storm, was a Swedish actress best known for her role as Alma, the mother of ''Emil i Lönneberga''. Storm was married to actor Göte Fyhri ...

as His Mother * Christina Frambäck as Elsie *

Ingvar Hirdwall Lars Ingvar Hirdwall (born 5 December 1934), is a Swedish actor. One of the country's most prolific stage and film actors, he is probably most widely recognised for his two heterogenous roles in the Martin Beck universe; as the eponymous killer i ...

as Sixten *

Agneta Prytz Agneta Prytz (15 December 1916 – 4 July 2008) was a Swedish movie and stage actress who appeared in thirty-six films over the course of her career. Prytz was the wife of Swedish director, Gösta Folke. Prytz was born Ingrid Agneta Prytz on 15 De ...

as Neighbour *

Fritiof Nilsson Piraten Fritiof Nilsson Piraten ("the Pirate") (4 December 1895 in Vollsjö – 31 January 1972 in Malmö), born Nils Fritiof Adam Nilsson was a Sweden, Swedish author and lawyer, from the south-most province Skåne, which plays an important role in ma ...

as Himself * Nina Widerberg as Nina

Production

The film was shot on location in a run-down Malmö block that was soon to be demolished. Locals were used as extras to strengthen the feeling of authenticity.

Awards and nominations

At the

1st Guldbagge Awards The 1st Guldbagge Awards ceremony, presented by the Swedish Film Institute, honored the best Swedish 1963 and 1964, and took place on 25 September 1964. '' The Silence'' directed by Ingmar Bergman was presented with the award for Best Film. Aw ...

Keve Hjelm was awarded the

Guldbagge 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 nam ...

for Best Actor. The film was nominated for the

Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film The Academy Award for Best International Feature Film (known as Best Foreign Language Film prior to 2020) is one of the Academy Awards handed out annually by the U.S.-based Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It is given to a ...

. It was also entered into the official selection at the

1964 Cannes Film Festival The 17th Cannes Film Festival was held from 29 April to 14 May 1964. On this occasion, the Palme d’Or was renamed "Grand Prix du Festival International du Film", a name that remained in use through 1974, after which it became the Palme d'Or agai ...

, competing for the

Palme d'Or The Palme d'Or (; en, Golden Palm) is the highest prize awarded at the Cannes Film Festival. It was introduced in 1955 by the festival's organizing committee. Previously, from 1939 to 1954, the festival's highest prize was the Grand Prix du Fe ...

References

External links