Edvard Munch (film)
Encyclopedia
Edvard Munch is a 1974
biographical film
about the Norwegian
Expressionist painter
Edvard Munch
, written and directed by Peter Watkins
. It was originally created as a three-part miniseries
co-produced by the Norwegian and Swedish
state television
networks NRK and SVT, but subsequently gained an American theatrical release in a three-hour version in 1976. The film covers about thirty years of Munch's life, focusing on the influences that shaped his art, particularly the prevalence of disease and death in his family and his youthful affair with a married woman. The film was screened at the 1976 Cannes Film Festival
, but wasn't entered into the main competition.
approach; scenes from Munch's life are re-enacted by a large cast (mostly Norwegian non-professional actors), but there is also a voiceover narration by Watkins, and there are moments when the characters speak directly to camera, as if being interviewed about their own lives or their opinions of Munch. Some of the dialogue was improvised by the cast, especially in the interview segments. To convey the hostile response Munch's work often received during his lifetime, Watkins recruited Norwegians who genuinely disliked the paintings.
, because they disapproved of its use of non-professional actors and anachronistic dialogue. After NRK relinquished rights to the film in 2002, it gained a wider international release.
Ingmar Bergman
, the great Swedish filmmaker, called the film a "work of genius".
1974 in film
The year 1974 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*February 7 - Blazing Saddles is released in the USA.*August 7 - Peter Wolf, lead singer of The J...
biographical film
Biographical film
A biographical film, or biopic , is a film that dramatizes the life of an actual person or people. They differ from films “based on a true story” or “historical films” in that they attempt to comprehensively tell a person’s life story or at least the most historically important years of their...
about the Norwegian
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
Expressionist painter
Painting
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . The application of the medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush but other objects can be used. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action. However, painting is...
Edvard Munch
Edvard Munch
Edvard Munch was a Norwegian Symbolist painter, printmaker and an important forerunner of expressionist art. His best-known composition, The Scream, is part of a series The Frieze of Life, in which Munch explored the themes of love, fear, death, melancholia, and anxiety.- Childhood :Edvard Munch...
, written and directed by Peter Watkins
Peter Watkins
Peter Watkins is an English film and television director. He was born in Norbiton, Surrey, lived in Sweden, Canada and Lithuania for many years, and now lives in France. He is one of the pioneers of docudrama. His movies, pacifist and radical, strongly review the limit of classic documentary and...
. It was originally created as a three-part miniseries
Miniseries
A miniseries , in a serial storytelling medium, is a television show production which tells a story in a limited number of episodes. The exact number is open to interpretation; however, they are usually limited to fewer than a whole season. The term "miniseries" is generally a North American term...
co-produced by the Norwegian and Swedish
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
state television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
networks NRK and SVT, but subsequently gained an American theatrical release in a three-hour version in 1976. The film covers about thirty years of Munch's life, focusing on the influences that shaped his art, particularly the prevalence of disease and death in his family and his youthful affair with a married woman. The film was screened at the 1976 Cannes Film Festival
1976 Cannes Film Festival
The 29th Cannes Film Festival was held on May 13-28, 1976. A new section, 'L'Air du temps', which is non-competitive and focuses on contemporary subjects, is introduced at this festival and discontinued after the next.- Jury :...
, but wasn't entered into the main competition.
Style
Like Watkins' other films, Edvard Munch uses a docudramaDocudrama
In film, television programming and staged theatre, docudrama is a documentary-style genre that features dramatized re-enactments of actual historical events. As a neologism, the term is often confused with docufiction....
approach; scenes from Munch's life are re-enacted by a large cast (mostly Norwegian non-professional actors), but there is also a voiceover narration by Watkins, and there are moments when the characters speak directly to camera, as if being interviewed about their own lives or their opinions of Munch. Some of the dialogue was improvised by the cast, especially in the interview segments. To convey the hostile response Munch's work often received during his lifetime, Watkins recruited Norwegians who genuinely disliked the paintings.
Distribution and responses
After its initial broadcast, the film was briefly an international success but was not widely available for many years afterward. Watkins has said that network officials tried to suppress its distribution, and tried to bar it from competition in the Cannes Film FestivalCannes Film Festival
The Cannes International Film Festival , is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films of all genres including documentaries from around the world. Founded in 1946, it is among the world's most prestigious and publicized film festivals...
, because they disapproved of its use of non-professional actors and anachronistic dialogue. After NRK relinquished rights to the film in 2002, it gained a wider international release.
Ingmar Bergman
Ingmar Bergman
Ernst Ingmar Bergman was a Swedish director, writer and producer for film, stage and television. Described by Woody Allen as "probably the greatest film artist, all things considered, since the invention of the motion picture camera", he is recognized as one of the most accomplished and...
, the great Swedish filmmaker, called the film a "work of genius".
Cast
- Geir Westby as Edvard MunchEdvard MunchEdvard Munch was a Norwegian Symbolist painter, printmaker and an important forerunner of expressionist art. His best-known composition, The Scream, is part of a series The Frieze of Life, in which Munch explored the themes of love, fear, death, melancholia, and anxiety.- Childhood :Edvard Munch...
- Gro Fraas as Fru Heiberg
- Johan Halsbog as Dr. Christian Munch
- Lotte Teig as Laura Cathrine Bjølstad
- Gro Jarto as Laura Cathrine Munch
- Rachel Pedersen as Inger Marie Munch
- Berit Rytter Hasle as Laura Munch
- Gunnar Skjetne as Peter Andreas MunchPeter Andreas MunchPeter Andreas Munch , usually known as P. A. Munch, was a Norwegian historian, known for his work on the medieval history of Norway. Munch’s scholarship included Norwegian archaeology, geography, ethnography, linguistics, and jurisprudence...
- Kare Stormark as Hans JægerHans JægerHans Henrik Jæger was a Norwegian writer, philosopher and anarchist political activist who was part of the Oslo based bohemian group Kristianiabohêmen. He was prosecuted for his book Fra Kristiania-bohêmen and convicted to 60 days' imprisonment in a supreme court ruling in 1886...
- Eli Ryg as Oda Lasson
- Iselin Bast as Dagny Juell
- Alf Kåre Strindberg as August StrindbergAugust StrindbergJohan August Strindberg was a Swedish playwright, novelist, poet, essayist and painter. A prolific writer who often drew directly on his personal experience, Strindberg's career spanned four decades, during which time he wrote over 60 plays and more than 30 works of fiction, autobiography,...
- Eric Allum as Edvard - 1868
- Amund Berge as Edvard - 1875
- Kerstii Allum as Sophie - 1869
- Inger-Berit Oland as Sophie - 1875
- Susan Troldmyr as Laura - 1868
- Camilla Falk as Laura - 1875
- Ragnvald Caspari as Peter - 1868
- Erik Kristiansen as Peter - 1875
- Katja Pedersen as Inger - 1868
- Anne-Marie Dæhli as Inger - 1875