Kristin Lavransdatter

In Norway we have to go to the cinema during school, often to see heavy drama movies we wouldn't see at all otherwise. I mean what sane 15 year old would personally go to see a medieval drama directed by Liv Ullmann. Anyway, this movie can easily be summed up by one word: crying..

From scene one the main character Kristin is hit by tragedy and cries. And that continues for a looong time. So rather read the book than watch this movie, but it might be great to see with your girlfriend if you manage to act the correct way.

If I had seen this film before reading the book first, I still would not have liked it very much. However, as I had read the book, I cannot write this review without comparing the two.

Compared to the book, this film was horrible. Not merely because the pace was slow, or because of the pointless changes they made to the plot in places.

No, what ruined it for me was the choice of actors. There is not a one, I think, who completely fit their character, but more so for the main characters. Take Kristin, for example; in the book, she is, at the oldest, about 18. And yet the actress looked 28. Kristin is described as being incredibly beautiful; and yet, the actress was, if not directly ugly, certainly not pretty or attractive in any way. Kristin is supposed to be sweet, innocent and mild of manner--in every way the epitome of the the gentle young virgin. And yet I saw few such characteristics in the way the actress portrayed her.

And Erlend. Erlend was supposed to be handsome, dashing, sweeping her off her feet. The very Romeo to her Juliet. The actor looked retarded half of the time, his mouth hanging open; the other half was nothing special.

And then there are the pointless changes in the other characters. Kristin's bedmate, Ingebjørg (and she was the ONLY bedmate...Helga was very little involved with anything in the book) was supposed to be blonde and very fat. Kristin's father was supposed to be very fair and knightly. Likewise, her almost-fiancé was supposed to be plump and talkative, too. And her sister was supposed to be about 6 years her younger; NOT the same age.

Possibly petty complaints: but actors make the film. Choose actors that cannot play their part, and you have a bad film. It's as simple as that. If you want to adapt a book to the screen, please do so as accurately as possible. Truth be told, I couldn't make myself watch the last half an hour of the film, it was annoying me so much. In the book, in liked Kristin; I had sympathy for her cause. In the film, I did not, at all.

A beautifully directed, well acted, and consistently faithful adaptation of the first of Sigrid Undset's Nobel Prize-winning novels about her fourteenth-century fictitious heroine, Kristin Lavransdatter. The movie perfectly captures the genius of the novel(s), the external and internal drama of a young woman's struggle with pride and sin, her rebellion against the good and yet her longing for it. Kristin's religious milieu, sympathetically but not sentimentally portrayed in the movie, forms a powerful backdrop against which this drama plays out. My only regret is that they did not make sequels out of the second and third Lavransdatter novels to complete the trilogy, since, indeed, the ending of the movie and of the first novel leave you hungering for more.

I always wondered if anyone could do justice to Undset's great trilogy.

Liv Uhlman brings us the flavor of medieval Norway, where Christianity still battles older forces and beliefs. She gives us a radiant but guilt-ridden Kristin not far off the mark from the character in Undset's books.

The architectural details, costumes and various artifacts around the farm seem just right for the era.

I felt disappointed when the film ended as I was eager to see the subsequent development of Kristin's character we see in the second and third volumes of Undset's trilogy. One can only hope that these, too, will come in time.

I loved this movie! It is so special, and you get the same feeling as if you were reading the book. 'Cause you have to read the book first, if you don't: rent another movie. I think Liv Ullmanns work with the

characters are great, especially the way she gets the love between Kristin and Erlend looking not klichè. I am so sorry for those who did not like this film. It either has to be something wrong with your braincells, or you just not have the gift of estetical sense. I mean: there is no such things as bad acting in this movie. It is so great, come on, come on, see it, see it now! Do it for yourselves, and do it for your heartless souls... :)