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Sundance 2019: ‘Sonja: The White Swan’Review by Peter BelsitoSonja Henie (8 April 1912–12 October 1969) was a Norwegian figure skater and film star.

She was a three-time Olympic Champion(1928, 1932, 1936) in Ladies’ Singles, a ten-time World Champion (1927–1936) and a six-time European Champion (1931–1936). Henie won more Olympic and World titles than any other ladies’ figure skater.

At the height of her acting career, Sonja Henie was one of the highest-paid stars in Hollywood and starred in a series of box-office hits, including Thin Ice (1937), My Lucky Star (1938), Second Fiddle (1939) and Sun Valley Serenade (1941)

When the Norwegian figure skater arrived in Hollywood, she was a talent the industry had never seen before, or since — a three-time Olympic ladies’ singles champion (a record she continues to hold) whose chipper, if chilly romantic comedy hits kept Twentieth Century-Fox solvent in the build-up to World War II, in part because she phoned up her pal Joseph...

How much do you know about Sonja Henie? The answer to that question may dictate to what degree you’ll enjoy the biopic Sonja – The White Swan. Directed by Anne Sewitsky and starring Ine Marie Wilmann, the film tells the story of a unique star within a standard structure. As a child in Norway, young Sonja learns how to skate with her brother. Quickly we jump into adulthood, our lead now a European sensation, ice skating to packed venues.

When she and her father (Anders Mordal) get the offer to expand the scope of Sonja’s celebrity from Arthur Wirtz (Malcolm Adams), it’s an easy decision. They move to Hollywood and are in the office of Darryl Zanuck (Aidan McArdle) before long. The studio mogul makes one offer. Sonja demands a bigger one. And she gets what she wants. Cut to a reenacted dance sequence from One in a Million,...