Astrid

Disclaimer: I'm not the first person who would watch this movie. I got dragged along with my friend to see it but I do know Lingren and know Pippi Longstocking.

The movie starts out at a wonderful pace. We are introduced to a ton of interesting characters. The pace is high and the music fits perfectly. We get to know Astrid, her family, where she lives and the jobs she does. This all changes as she takes on a job as an intern.

Some drastic things happen (I won't spoil what) and the focus shifts. This results in us seeing more of Astrid and less of the rest of the cast. The people she talks to don't get enough screen time to grow attached to. And the movie starts dragging. And dragging. It got so bad I literally had trouble keeping my eyes open.

And here's where to me the major flaw in this movies lies. The script. It's as if the writers focused so much on one aspect they forget that a movie should always be entertaining. With the pace being so low this very uneventful part of the story feels even worse. They got all these characters but you rarely get to see them. You don't know what how their relationship develops over the years. No one is singled out except for Astrid. But to make a movie work you have to have interaction.

There are however, still a couple of highlights. The ending is nice, the pace picks up again and we are finally reunited with characters we met at the beginning.

So all in all it's definitely worth watching for Lindgren fans, but I can't really recommend it for other moviegoers.

Powerful deliberately paced drama with strong acting and wonderful cinematography.

Alba August is excellent in her lead role as Astrid Lindgren (nee Ericsson) who pays a heavy price in moralistic 1920's Sweden, for getting involved with her much older married boss and becoming pregnant. The partial biopic only covers Lindgren's life essentially from her mid-teen into her 20's.

Thus, we get only hints, such as her ability to make up fascinating stories to her siblings and her creative writing, as to how she would go on to create the extremely popular children's book series "Pippi Longstocking" among other works. Lindgren would become the 4th most prolific children's author to be translated globally.

Overall, a solid intense drama but I would have liked to have seen more of how Lindgren transformed into one of the most acclaimed children's authors of all time.

A biographical film about one of Sweden's most famous authors seems like a really interesting idea - and in some ways it does succeed, whilst in other ways not so much.

On a technical level, the movie looks good. The cinematography, cutting and editing is good and the acting is mostly pretty good.

The potential is somewhat lost though with very little focus on Astrid Lindgren's authorship, and Alba August, an otherwise incredible actor, conveys a little too much of a childlike character. All of this might be somewhat deliberate though, which somewhat justifies it. Many of these films want to focus on things besides what made them famous; a portrait of the actual human.

Overall, it's not really a very bad film, it's somewhat flawed but has some good going for it.

The "Inspired by" terminology is not the most inspiring. It's a biopic of Swedish children's book author Astrid Lindgren who would create classics such as Pippi Longstocking. It starts in her teen years in the 1920's rural conservative Sweden. She has an affair with her married boss and gets pregnant.

This is a story of Astrid and Lasse. The first half is a bit slow. There is a lot of story to get through but it is the story of Astrid and Lasse which is the most emotional. It is the heart and soul of the movie. I wish they get there sooner and I also wish for more with the Lindgrens story. That is the extent of any flaw in the movie. It needs to focus more on the second half. Alba August is simply great and she brings a full emotional performance. It's heartbreaking and uplifting. I can forgive the "Inspired" start.

This is a beautiful piece of Scandinavian film making that held me spellbound from the first minute. The story of Astrid Ericsson's (later Lindgren) early life unfolds lyrically, with sensitive handling of the many controversies that shaped the children's author. While the cinematography is beautiful, and all performances are great, Alba August carries the film with a magical performance as Astrid. Every moment is perfectly told through August's acting, and caught by the director.

I would say that this film isn't quite as subtle as some Scandinavian films, but it's always difficult to fit life stories into a single film. This film made me want to see a series of films about Lindgren's entire life.