Segundo Sinal

It distresses me to have to disagree with Shane Burridge, whose reviews are always well informed and intelligent. In this case I must, lest any viewers who would appreciate this film are deterred. I have to confess to a particular interest, since I used to teach medieval literature. Even reasonably decent movie recreations of medieval life are very few, while cosmetic fantasies are legion. The plot of this film is admittedly limited in scope, but the detail and atmosphere of Norway at the time of the "Black Death" which, as Mr Burridge points out, killed two-thirds of the population, are completely engrossing and terrifying. A village wedding feast can lead virtually to the end of the world and this is experienced by a small girl, spared only because she was away on the mountain side minding the sheep! Perhaps the ending is a little too contrived, but without it the film would be unendurably sad, as indeed must have been so for so many millions at the time. The picture is bleak but beautiful to watch, the actors are completely believable and the leading child is so engaging (but not in any way cute) that the experience is one that I shall never forget. The bonus is that the dialogue is in Norwegian. (Not medieval, but then the home audience had to understand it.) This will never, I admit, appeal to a wide audience, at least outside Norway, but for those who know what they are looking for, it is a small treasure.

There seems to be a problem when it comes to Norwegian movies. They have a tendency of lacking the gusto and spirit of the people, as does this movie. It has the potential of having quite a good strength as far as movies go, but lacks the spirit and the progress that is the sign of a great story.

I saw the film at The Norwegian film festival in Rome,Italy in the spring of 1997, and it was the film I enjoyed the most. I loved the dialect(Western Norway),the landscape scenes were beautiful. Ola Solum(film director) managed to make an interesting film staged in the deepest of medieval times and centered in a single valley of the countryside. The tragedy of the film is the arrival of the plague that kills everyone in the countryside hamlet except for a 6 yr.old girl who has to fend for herself for almost a year. When some hunters passed by(legend has it) she lived and behaved like a wild animal!!....and was treated with suspicion and dread by the neighbouring villagers ...as she had become according to them a witch !! For Norwegians this film as a special resonance,since the plague was considered one of the two major tragedies to befall Norway in it's history(the other was the Nazi occupation during the second world war!)..the plague killed so many Norwegians that the country seriously weakened came to lose it's independence and be subjucated to Danish rule for 700 years. It's a film only Norwegians can appreciate truly, for the above mentioned reasons,and especially for me as I am an ex-patriot Norwegian.