Kristin - Amor E Perdição

This movie is so perfect! The story, acting, scenery and general attention to detail are wonderful. Kristin's character is complex, as are the others- there are no flat characters here, no "he's the good guy and he's the bad guy." The plot is also rich and is a refreshing contrast to so many of the predictable, clichéd flicks playing at the mall theaters.

I have to give it a 10. It is flawless and fascinating. If I could, I would give it bonus points for having such unique subject matter, as well. After all, films about medieval Norway don't come out every day- especially not from the perspective of a young, strong, female character.

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.

Even though I did like this movie I do have to sympathize with those people who thought the film a bit long and boring. The shooting style is fairly straight forward, and there really aren't too many memorable dramatic shots, but overall it's technically a respectable film.

I think one of the things that holds back a better film, and I really hate myself for saying this because I usually say the opposite, is that the leads needed younger actors for the parts they were playing, and the narrative needed to be tightened up a bit.

The look of the film is okay, but I think a selection of longer lenses and a more static shooting style might have better sold the artistic period quality of the film. There's a couple of hand held shots that seem somewhat awkward and clumsy, and I didn't get too much romantic tension between the two leads.

Otherwise it's a very fine looking film, but it lacks a certain energy largely because of the kind of story that it is. Medieval romances typically conjure knights wining the hands of fair ladies with deeds brave and bold; read that as killing a few other knights in combat. But there isn't a whole lot of derring do on anybodies part. Oh well.

It's not a film I'd recommend unless you're into the medieval genre. And even then don't expect any sword play, nor much in the way of any plot as it's essentially the reflections of single woman up until her "big moments".

Still, there's a certain charm and a lot of production value in terms of sets, costumes and even locations went into the creation of this film. Again, if you're into the medieval genre, then maybe give it a glance for those qualities alone, but again it is a slower film.

See it once, and see what you think.

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.