Product: Elvira Madigan [VHS]
Rating: 3.0
DREAMS VS REALITY
Presented as a movie filled with romanticism, Bo Widerberg's ELVIRA MADIGAN left me puzzled. This swedish director, in his following movies, was more concerned with social questions than with romantic love stories. So ELVIRA MADIGAN, in my opinion, is the description of an ideal passion struggling with the low reality of the XIXth Sweden.A Swedish officer leaves army, his family and his friends to follow a circus trapeze artist named Elvira Madigan. They live a passionate love during a few days then suffer from lack of money, hunger and doubts about their future in the material world they live in.The swedish way to describe a romantic love story is very peculiar. Widerberg films beautiful landscapes, a pretty girl in a white dress and invites Mozart and Vivaldi for the musical score. And that's it. The least one can say is that the passion feeled by the two heroes is cerebral. They wear the same face expression for joy, sadness and hunger. Very strange.Nevertheless, if you're interested in non-hollywoodian production, ELVIRA MADIGAN is worth a look.A DVD from the north.