Ådalen 31
Encyclopedia
Ådalen 31 (ˈoːdɑːlən) is a 1969
Swedish
drama film
directed by Bo Widerberg. It depicts the 1931 Ådalen shootings
, in which Swedish military forces opened fire against labour demonstrators in the Swedish
sawmill district of Ådalen
killing five people, including a young girl.
The film was X-rated
in the United States
. It won the Grand Prize of the Jury
at the Cannes Film Festival
and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film
.
are taking part in a massive sympathy strike
for workers in the town Marma
. Harald, the father of the family, catches fish and manages to support his family while maintaining a good mood. Kjell, the oldest son, works at the office of the local sawmill manager, and is taught about classical music, impressionism
and French pronunciation by the manager's wife. He plays in a jazz band with his friend Nisse with whom he also discusses things like girls, erogenous zone
s and hypnosis
. As spring commences, the manager's daughter Anna comes home for school holiday. She and Kjell fall in love, and she becomes pregnant with his child.
When the sawmill is to deliver a big order to America, strikebreakers are called in from other towns. The local strikers become furious and police has to be called in to protect the strikebreakers. Still they are attacked by an angry crowd while working at the Sandviken wharf outside Kramfors
. Some are thrown into the water, while others are beaten bloody. Harald takes care of an injured strikebreaker, but is confronted by a group of angry workers. He tries to argue for them to calm down and rely on discussion instead of violence, but they do not agree with his stance.
Because of the turbulence, military troops arrive to ensure safety. It is also decided by the County Administrative Board that the strikebreakers should be prohibited from working, but this information doesn't reach the upset locals, who decide to march to the locality where the strikebreakers are staying to get rid of them. When the military troops fail in persuading the participants to stop, they open fire.
Five people are killed and five more are injured. Among the dead are Harald Andersson, Nisse and a young girl who had only been a bystander. Around the same time, Anna returns from Stockholm
where she has had an abortion arranged by her mother. When Kjell is told about the abortion by Anna's father, he interprets it as if he isn't accepted within the bourgeois idyll.
A general strike
is proclaimed. While Kjell is occupied as a strike guard, he meets the man who had previously argued with his father. The man claims that the father wasn't innocent, since he had helped to divide the workers. Not until now they were united. Kjell does not agree, instead claiming that education is the key to a better society. Slowly the Andersson family recover from the loss, and eventually the factories open again.
for Best Direction, and actor Roland Hedlund won for Best Actor. Internationally, the film won the Special Grand Prize of the Jury
at the 1969 Cannes Film Festival
and was nominated for both the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film
and the Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film
.
Swedish
drama film
directed by Bo Widerberg. It depicts the 1931 Ådalen shootings
, in which Swedish military forces opened fire against labour demonstrators in the Swedish
sawmill district of Ådalen
killing five people, including a young girl.
The film was X-rated
in the United States
. It won the Grand Prize of the Jury
at the Cannes Film Festival
and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film
.
are taking part in a massive sympathy strike
for workers in the town Marma
. Harald, the father of the family, catches fish and manages to support his family while maintaining a good mood. Kjell, the oldest son, works at the office of the local sawmill manager, and is taught about classical music, impressionism
and French pronunciation by the manager's wife. He plays in a jazz band with his friend Nisse with whom he also discusses things like girls, erogenous zone
s and hypnosis
. As spring commences, the manager's daughter Anna comes home for school holiday. She and Kjell fall in love, and she becomes pregnant with his child.
When the sawmill is to deliver a big order to America, strikebreakers are called in from other towns. The local strikers become furious and police has to be called in to protect the strikebreakers. Still they are attacked by an angry crowd while working at the Sandviken wharf outside Kramfors
. Some are thrown into the water, while others are beaten bloody. Harald takes care of an injured strikebreaker, but is confronted by a group of angry workers. He tries to argue for them to calm down and rely on discussion instead of violence, but they do not agree with his stance.
Because of the turbulence, military troops arrive to ensure safety. It is also decided by the County Administrative Board that the strikebreakers should be prohibited from working, but this information doesn't reach the upset locals, who decide to march to the locality where the strikebreakers are staying to get rid of them. When the military troops fail in persuading the participants to stop, they open fire.
Five people are killed and five more are injured. Among the dead are Harald Andersson, Nisse and a young girl who had only been a bystander. Around the same time, Anna returns from Stockholm
where she has had an abortion arranged by her mother. When Kjell is told about the abortion by Anna's father, he interprets it as if he isn't accepted within the bourgeois idyll.
A general strike
is proclaimed. While Kjell is occupied as a strike guard, he meets the man who had previously argued with his father. The man claims that the father wasn't innocent, since he had helped to divide the workers. Not until now they were united. Kjell does not agree, instead claiming that education is the key to a better society. Slowly the Andersson family recover from the loss, and eventually the factories open again.
for Best Direction, and actor Roland Hedlund won for Best Actor. Internationally, the film won the Special Grand Prize of the Jury
at the 1969 Cannes Film Festival
and was nominated for both the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film
and the Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film
.
Swedish
drama film
directed by Bo Widerberg. It depicts the 1931 Ådalen shootings
, in which Swedish military forces opened fire against labour demonstrators in the Swedish
sawmill district of Ådalen
killing five people, including a young girl.
The film was X-rated
in the United States
. It won the Grand Prize of the Jury
at the Cannes Film Festival
and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film
.
are taking part in a massive sympathy strike
for workers in the town Marma
. Harald, the father of the family, catches fish and manages to support his family while maintaining a good mood. Kjell, the oldest son, works at the office of the local sawmill manager, and is taught about classical music, impressionism
and French pronunciation by the manager's wife. He plays in a jazz band with his friend Nisse with whom he also discusses things like girls, erogenous zone
s and hypnosis
. As spring commences, the manager's daughter Anna comes home for school holiday. She and Kjell fall in love, and she becomes pregnant with his child.
When the sawmill is to deliver a big order to America, strikebreakers are called in from other towns. The local strikers become furious and police has to be called in to protect the strikebreakers. Still they are attacked by an angry crowd while working at the Sandviken wharf outside Kramfors
. Some are thrown into the water, while others are beaten bloody. Harald takes care of an injured strikebreaker, but is confronted by a group of angry workers. He tries to argue for them to calm down and rely on discussion instead of violence, but they do not agree with his stance.
Because of the turbulence, military troops arrive to ensure safety. It is also decided by the County Administrative Board that the strikebreakers should be prohibited from working, but this information doesn't reach the upset locals, who decide to march to the locality where the strikebreakers are staying to get rid of them. When the military troops fail in persuading the participants to stop, they open fire.
Five people are killed and five more are injured. Among the dead are Harald Andersson, Nisse and a young girl who had only been a bystander. Around the same time, Anna returns from Stockholm
where she has had an abortion arranged by her mother. When Kjell is told about the abortion by Anna's father, he interprets it as if he isn't accepted within the bourgeois idyll.
A general strike
is proclaimed. While Kjell is occupied as a strike guard, he meets the man who had previously argued with his father. The man claims that the father wasn't innocent, since he had helped to divide the workers. Not until now they were united. Kjell does not agree, instead claiming that education is the key to a better society. Slowly the Andersson family recover from the loss, and eventually the factories open again.
for Best Direction, and actor Roland Hedlund won for Best Actor. Internationally, the film won the Special Grand Prize of the Jury
at the 1969 Cannes Film Festival
and was nominated for both the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film
and the Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film
.
1969 in film
The year 1969 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* Last year for prize giving at the Venice Film Festival until it is revived in 1980...
Swedish
Cinema of Sweden
Swedish cinema is known as producing many critically acclaimed movies, and during the 20th century was the most prominent of Scandinavia. This is largely due to the popularity and prominence of the directors Ingmar Bergman, Victor Sjöström, and more recently Lasse Hallström and Lukas...
drama film
Drama film
A drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction, infidelity, moral dilemmas, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, poverty, class divisions, violence against women...
directed by Bo Widerberg. It depicts the 1931 Ådalen shootings
Ådalen shootings
The Ådalen shootings , was a series of events in and around the sawmill district of Ådalen, Kramfors Municipality, Ångermanland, Sweden, in May 1931...
, in which Swedish military forces opened fire against labour demonstrators in the 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....
sawmill district of Ådalen
Ådalen
Ådalen is the river valley of the Ångerman River, downstream Junsele, in Sweden. It often refers to the broad, densely populated, fjord-like mouth of the river, in Kramfors Municipality, and is known for the Ådalen shootings in 1931....
killing five people, including a young girl.
The film was X-rated
X-rated
In some countries, X is or has been a motion picture rating reserved for the most explicit films. Films rated X are intended only for viewing by adults, usually legally defined as people over the age of 17.-United Kingdom:...
in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. It won the Grand Prize of the Jury
Grand Prix (Cannes Film Festival)
The Grand Prix is an award of the Cannes Film Festival bestowed by the jury of the festival on one of the competing feature films. It is the second-most prestigious prize of the festival after the Palme d'Or...
at the Cannes Film Festival
1969 Cannes Film Festival
The 22nd Cannes Film Festival was held on May 8 - 23, 1969. At this festival a new non-competitive section called "Directors' Fortnight" is added, in response to the cancellation of the 1968 festival.-Jury:*Luchino Visconti...
and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film
Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film
The Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film is one of the Academy Awards of Merit, popularly known as the Oscars, handed out annually by the U.S.-based Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences...
.
Plot
In the early 1930s, the working-class family Andersson of ÅdalenÅdalen
Ådalen is the river valley of the Ångerman River, downstream Junsele, in Sweden. It often refers to the broad, densely populated, fjord-like mouth of the river, in Kramfors Municipality, and is known for the Ådalen shootings in 1931....
are taking part in a massive sympathy strike
Sympathy strike
Secondary action is industrial action by a trade union in support of a strike initiated by workers in another, separate enterprise...
for workers in the town Marma
Marma, Sweden
Marma is a locality situated in Älvkarleby Municipality, Uppsala County, Sweden with 304 inhabitants in 2005....
. Harald, the father of the family, catches fish and manages to support his family while maintaining a good mood. Kjell, the oldest son, works at the office of the local sawmill manager, and is taught about classical music, impressionism
Impressionism
Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement that originated with a group of Paris-based artists whose independent exhibitions brought them to prominence during the 1870s and 1880s...
and French pronunciation by the manager's wife. He plays in a jazz band with his friend Nisse with whom he also discusses things like girls, erogenous zone
Erogenous zone
An erogenous zone is an area of the human body that has heightened sensitivity, the stimulation of which may result in the production of erotic sensations or sexual excitement.People have erogenous zones all over their bodies, but which areas are more sensitive than others vary...
s and hypnosis
Hypnosis
Hypnosis is "a trance state characterized by extreme suggestibility, relaxation and heightened imagination."It is a mental state or imaginative role-enactment . It is usually induced by a procedure known as a hypnotic induction, which is commonly composed of a long series of preliminary...
. As spring commences, the manager's daughter Anna comes home for school holiday. She and Kjell fall in love, and she becomes pregnant with his child.
When the sawmill is to deliver a big order to America, strikebreakers are called in from other towns. The local strikers become furious and police has to be called in to protect the strikebreakers. Still they are attacked by an angry crowd while working at the Sandviken wharf outside Kramfors
Kramfors
Kramfors is a locality and the seat of Kramfors Municipality in Västernorrland County, Sweden with 6,235 inhabitants in 2005.Geographically the town is situated on the western shore of the Ångerman River. This river was the reason that Kramfors was founded, because in the 19th century it was a...
. Some are thrown into the water, while others are beaten bloody. Harald takes care of an injured strikebreaker, but is confronted by a group of angry workers. He tries to argue for them to calm down and rely on discussion instead of violence, but they do not agree with his stance.
Because of the turbulence, military troops arrive to ensure safety. It is also decided by the County Administrative Board that the strikebreakers should be prohibited from working, but this information doesn't reach the upset locals, who decide to march to the locality where the strikebreakers are staying to get rid of them. When the military troops fail in persuading the participants to stop, they open fire.
Five people are killed and five more are injured. Among the dead are Harald Andersson, Nisse and a young girl who had only been a bystander. Around the same time, Anna returns from Stockholm
Stockholm
Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...
where she has had an abortion arranged by her mother. When Kjell is told about the abortion by Anna's father, he interprets it as if he isn't accepted within the bourgeois idyll.
A general strike
General strike
A general strike is a strike action by a critical mass of the labour force in a city, region, or country. While a general strike can be for political goals, economic goals, or both, it tends to gain its momentum from the ideological or class sympathies of the participants...
is proclaimed. While Kjell is occupied as a strike guard, he meets the man who had previously argued with his father. The man claims that the father wasn't innocent, since he had helped to divide the workers. Not until now they were united. Kjell does not agree, instead claiming that education is the key to a better society. Slowly the Andersson family recover from the loss, and eventually the factories open again.
Cast
- Peter Schildt as Kjell Andersson
- Kerstin TideliusKerstin TideliusKerstin Martha Tidelius is a Swedish actress.Born in Stockholm, she worked mainly on stage with a total of about 20 film and TV appearances...
as Karin Andersson - Roland Hedlund as Harald Andersson
- Marie De Geer as Anna Björklund
- Anita BjörkAnita BjörkAnita Björk is a Swedish actress.Born in Tällberg, Dalarna, Anita Björk attended Dramatens elevskola in 1942-45....
as Hedvig Björklund - Olof Bergström as Olof Björklund
- Jonas Bergström as Nisse
- Tommy Malmström as angry young communist
- Olle Björling as strikebreaker
- Pierre Lindstedt as supervisor
- Stefan Feierbach as Åke Andersson
- Martin Widerberg as Martin Andersson
Awards and nominations
Widerberg won the Swedish Guldbagge AwardGuldbagge Award
The Guldbagge Award is an official Swedish film award awarded annually since 1964 by the Swedish Film Institute.-Etymology:Guldbagge is the Swedish name for Cetonia aurata, a beetle also known as rose chafer. The name of the award could also be interpreted as a play on the Swedish word skalbagge,...
for Best Direction, and actor Roland Hedlund won for Best Actor. Internationally, the film won the Special Grand Prize of the Jury
Grand Prix (Cannes Film Festival)
The Grand Prix is an award of the Cannes Film Festival bestowed by the jury of the festival on one of the competing feature films. It is the second-most prestigious prize of the festival after the Palme d'Or...
at the 1969 Cannes Film Festival
1969 Cannes Film Festival
The 22nd Cannes Film Festival was held on May 8 - 23, 1969. At this festival a new non-competitive section called "Directors' Fortnight" is added, in response to the cancellation of the 1968 festival.-Jury:*Luchino Visconti...
and was nominated for both the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film
Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film
The Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film is one of the Academy Awards of Merit, popularly known as the Oscars, handed out annually by the U.S.-based Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences...
and the Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film
Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film
The Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film is one of the awards presented at the Golden Globes, an American film awards ceremony.Until 1986, it was known as the Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Film, meaning that any non-American film could be honoured...
.
See also
- List of submissions to the 42nd Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film
- List of Swedish submissions for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film
External links
Ådalen 31 (ˈoːdɑːlən) (Released in the United States as Adalen Riots) is a 19691969 in film
The year 1969 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* Last year for prize giving at the Venice Film Festival until it is revived in 1980...
Swedish
Cinema of Sweden
Swedish cinema is known as producing many critically acclaimed movies, and during the 20th century was the most prominent of Scandinavia. This is largely due to the popularity and prominence of the directors Ingmar Bergman, Victor Sjöström, and more recently Lasse Hallström and Lukas...
drama film
Drama film
A drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction, infidelity, moral dilemmas, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, poverty, class divisions, violence against women...
directed by Bo Widerberg. It depicts the 1931 Ådalen shootings
Ådalen shootings
The Ådalen shootings , was a series of events in and around the sawmill district of Ådalen, Kramfors Municipality, Ångermanland, Sweden, in May 1931...
, in which Swedish military forces opened fire against labour demonstrators in the 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....
sawmill district of Ådalen
Ådalen
Ådalen is the river valley of the Ångerman River, downstream Junsele, in Sweden. It often refers to the broad, densely populated, fjord-like mouth of the river, in Kramfors Municipality, and is known for the Ådalen shootings in 1931....
killing five people, including a young girl.
The film was X-rated
X-rated
In some countries, X is or has been a motion picture rating reserved for the most explicit films. Films rated X are intended only for viewing by adults, usually legally defined as people over the age of 17.-United Kingdom:...
in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. It won the Grand Prize of the Jury
Grand Prix (Cannes Film Festival)
The Grand Prix is an award of the Cannes Film Festival bestowed by the jury of the festival on one of the competing feature films. It is the second-most prestigious prize of the festival after the Palme d'Or...
at the Cannes Film Festival
1969 Cannes Film Festival
The 22nd Cannes Film Festival was held on May 8 - 23, 1969. At this festival a new non-competitive section called "Directors' Fortnight" is added, in response to the cancellation of the 1968 festival.-Jury:*Luchino Visconti...
and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film
Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film
The Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film is one of the Academy Awards of Merit, popularly known as the Oscars, handed out annually by the U.S.-based Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences...
.
Plot
In the early 1930s, the working-class family Andersson of ÅdalenÅdalen
Ådalen is the river valley of the Ångerman River, downstream Junsele, in Sweden. It often refers to the broad, densely populated, fjord-like mouth of the river, in Kramfors Municipality, and is known for the Ådalen shootings in 1931....
are taking part in a massive sympathy strike
Sympathy strike
Secondary action is industrial action by a trade union in support of a strike initiated by workers in another, separate enterprise...
for workers in the town Marma
Marma, Sweden
Marma is a locality situated in Älvkarleby Municipality, Uppsala County, Sweden with 304 inhabitants in 2005....
. Harald, the father of the family, catches fish and manages to support his family while maintaining a good mood. Kjell, the oldest son, works at the office of the local sawmill manager, and is taught about classical music, impressionism
Impressionism
Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement that originated with a group of Paris-based artists whose independent exhibitions brought them to prominence during the 1870s and 1880s...
and French pronunciation by the manager's wife. He plays in a jazz band with his friend Nisse with whom he also discusses things like girls, erogenous zone
Erogenous zone
An erogenous zone is an area of the human body that has heightened sensitivity, the stimulation of which may result in the production of erotic sensations or sexual excitement.People have erogenous zones all over their bodies, but which areas are more sensitive than others vary...
s and hypnosis
Hypnosis
Hypnosis is "a trance state characterized by extreme suggestibility, relaxation and heightened imagination."It is a mental state or imaginative role-enactment . It is usually induced by a procedure known as a hypnotic induction, which is commonly composed of a long series of preliminary...
. As spring commences, the manager's daughter Anna comes home for school holiday. She and Kjell fall in love, and she becomes pregnant with his child.
When the sawmill is to deliver a big order to America, strikebreakers are called in from other towns. The local strikers become furious and police has to be called in to protect the strikebreakers. Still they are attacked by an angry crowd while working at the Sandviken wharf outside Kramfors
Kramfors
Kramfors is a locality and the seat of Kramfors Municipality in Västernorrland County, Sweden with 6,235 inhabitants in 2005.Geographically the town is situated on the western shore of the Ångerman River. This river was the reason that Kramfors was founded, because in the 19th century it was a...
. Some are thrown into the water, while others are beaten bloody. Harald takes care of an injured strikebreaker, but is confronted by a group of angry workers. He tries to argue for them to calm down and rely on discussion instead of violence, but they do not agree with his stance.
Because of the turbulence, military troops arrive to ensure safety. It is also decided by the County Administrative Board that the strikebreakers should be prohibited from working, but this information doesn't reach the upset locals, who decide to march to the locality where the strikebreakers are staying to get rid of them. When the military troops fail in persuading the participants to stop, they open fire.
Five people are killed and five more are injured. Among the dead are Harald Andersson, Nisse and a young girl who had only been a bystander. Around the same time, Anna returns from Stockholm
Stockholm
Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...
where she has had an abortion arranged by her mother. When Kjell is told about the abortion by Anna's father, he interprets it as if he isn't accepted within the bourgeois idyll.
A general strike
General strike
A general strike is a strike action by a critical mass of the labour force in a city, region, or country. While a general strike can be for political goals, economic goals, or both, it tends to gain its momentum from the ideological or class sympathies of the participants...
is proclaimed. While Kjell is occupied as a strike guard, he meets the man who had previously argued with his father. The man claims that the father wasn't innocent, since he had helped to divide the workers. Not until now they were united. Kjell does not agree, instead claiming that education is the key to a better society. Slowly the Andersson family recover from the loss, and eventually the factories open again.
Cast
- Peter Schildt as Kjell Andersson
- Kerstin TideliusKerstin TideliusKerstin Martha Tidelius is a Swedish actress.Born in Stockholm, she worked mainly on stage with a total of about 20 film and TV appearances...
as Karin Andersson - Roland Hedlund as Harald Andersson
- Marie De Geer as Anna Björklund
- Anita BjörkAnita BjörkAnita Björk is a Swedish actress.Born in Tällberg, Dalarna, Anita Björk attended Dramatens elevskola in 1942-45....
as Hedvig Björklund - Olof Bergström as Olof Björklund
- Jonas Bergström as Nisse
- Tommy Malmström as angry young communist
- Olle Björling as strikebreaker
- Pierre Lindstedt as supervisor
- Stefan Feierbach as Åke Andersson
- Martin Widerberg as Martin Andersson
Awards and nominations
Widerberg won the Swedish Guldbagge AwardGuldbagge Award
The Guldbagge Award is an official Swedish film award awarded annually since 1964 by the Swedish Film Institute.-Etymology:Guldbagge is the Swedish name for Cetonia aurata, a beetle also known as rose chafer. The name of the award could also be interpreted as a play on the Swedish word skalbagge,...
for Best Direction, and actor Roland Hedlund won for Best Actor. Internationally, the film won the Special Grand Prize of the Jury
Grand Prix (Cannes Film Festival)
The Grand Prix is an award of the Cannes Film Festival bestowed by the jury of the festival on one of the competing feature films. It is the second-most prestigious prize of the festival after the Palme d'Or...
at the 1969 Cannes Film Festival
1969 Cannes Film Festival
The 22nd Cannes Film Festival was held on May 8 - 23, 1969. At this festival a new non-competitive section called "Directors' Fortnight" is added, in response to the cancellation of the 1968 festival.-Jury:*Luchino Visconti...
and was nominated for both the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film
Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film
The Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film is one of the Academy Awards of Merit, popularly known as the Oscars, handed out annually by the U.S.-based Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences...
and the Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film
Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film
The Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film is one of the awards presented at the Golden Globes, an American film awards ceremony.Until 1986, it was known as the Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Film, meaning that any non-American film could be honoured...
.
See also
- List of submissions to the 42nd Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film
- List of Swedish submissions for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film
External links
Ådalen 31 (ˈoːdɑːlən) (Released in the United States as Adalen Riots) is a 19691969 in film
The year 1969 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* Last year for prize giving at the Venice Film Festival until it is revived in 1980...
Swedish
Cinema of Sweden
Swedish cinema is known as producing many critically acclaimed movies, and during the 20th century was the most prominent of Scandinavia. This is largely due to the popularity and prominence of the directors Ingmar Bergman, Victor Sjöström, and more recently Lasse Hallström and Lukas...
drama film
Drama film
A drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction, infidelity, moral dilemmas, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, poverty, class divisions, violence against women...
directed by Bo Widerberg. It depicts the 1931 Ådalen shootings
Ådalen shootings
The Ådalen shootings , was a series of events in and around the sawmill district of Ådalen, Kramfors Municipality, Ångermanland, Sweden, in May 1931...
, in which Swedish military forces opened fire against labour demonstrators in the 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....
sawmill district of Ådalen
Ådalen
Ådalen is the river valley of the Ångerman River, downstream Junsele, in Sweden. It often refers to the broad, densely populated, fjord-like mouth of the river, in Kramfors Municipality, and is known for the Ådalen shootings in 1931....
killing five people, including a young girl.
The film was X-rated
X-rated
In some countries, X is or has been a motion picture rating reserved for the most explicit films. Films rated X are intended only for viewing by adults, usually legally defined as people over the age of 17.-United Kingdom:...
in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. It won the Grand Prize of the Jury
Grand Prix (Cannes Film Festival)
The Grand Prix is an award of the Cannes Film Festival bestowed by the jury of the festival on one of the competing feature films. It is the second-most prestigious prize of the festival after the Palme d'Or...
at the Cannes Film Festival
1969 Cannes Film Festival
The 22nd Cannes Film Festival was held on May 8 - 23, 1969. At this festival a new non-competitive section called "Directors' Fortnight" is added, in response to the cancellation of the 1968 festival.-Jury:*Luchino Visconti...
and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film
Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film
The Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film is one of the Academy Awards of Merit, popularly known as the Oscars, handed out annually by the U.S.-based Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences...
.
Plot
In the early 1930s, the working-class family Andersson of ÅdalenÅdalen
Ådalen is the river valley of the Ångerman River, downstream Junsele, in Sweden. It often refers to the broad, densely populated, fjord-like mouth of the river, in Kramfors Municipality, and is known for the Ådalen shootings in 1931....
are taking part in a massive sympathy strike
Sympathy strike
Secondary action is industrial action by a trade union in support of a strike initiated by workers in another, separate enterprise...
for workers in the town Marma
Marma, Sweden
Marma is a locality situated in Älvkarleby Municipality, Uppsala County, Sweden with 304 inhabitants in 2005....
. Harald, the father of the family, catches fish and manages to support his family while maintaining a good mood. Kjell, the oldest son, works at the office of the local sawmill manager, and is taught about classical music, impressionism
Impressionism
Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement that originated with a group of Paris-based artists whose independent exhibitions brought them to prominence during the 1870s and 1880s...
and French pronunciation by the manager's wife. He plays in a jazz band with his friend Nisse with whom he also discusses things like girls, erogenous zone
Erogenous zone
An erogenous zone is an area of the human body that has heightened sensitivity, the stimulation of which may result in the production of erotic sensations or sexual excitement.People have erogenous zones all over their bodies, but which areas are more sensitive than others vary...
s and hypnosis
Hypnosis
Hypnosis is "a trance state characterized by extreme suggestibility, relaxation and heightened imagination."It is a mental state or imaginative role-enactment . It is usually induced by a procedure known as a hypnotic induction, which is commonly composed of a long series of preliminary...
. As spring commences, the manager's daughter Anna comes home for school holiday. She and Kjell fall in love, and she becomes pregnant with his child.
When the sawmill is to deliver a big order to America, strikebreakers are called in from other towns. The local strikers become furious and police has to be called in to protect the strikebreakers. Still they are attacked by an angry crowd while working at the Sandviken wharf outside Kramfors
Kramfors
Kramfors is a locality and the seat of Kramfors Municipality in Västernorrland County, Sweden with 6,235 inhabitants in 2005.Geographically the town is situated on the western shore of the Ångerman River. This river was the reason that Kramfors was founded, because in the 19th century it was a...
. Some are thrown into the water, while others are beaten bloody. Harald takes care of an injured strikebreaker, but is confronted by a group of angry workers. He tries to argue for them to calm down and rely on discussion instead of violence, but they do not agree with his stance.
Because of the turbulence, military troops arrive to ensure safety. It is also decided by the County Administrative Board that the strikebreakers should be prohibited from working, but this information doesn't reach the upset locals, who decide to march to the locality where the strikebreakers are staying to get rid of them. When the military troops fail in persuading the participants to stop, they open fire.
Five people are killed and five more are injured. Among the dead are Harald Andersson, Nisse and a young girl who had only been a bystander. Around the same time, Anna returns from Stockholm
Stockholm
Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...
where she has had an abortion arranged by her mother. When Kjell is told about the abortion by Anna's father, he interprets it as if he isn't accepted within the bourgeois idyll.
A general strike
General strike
A general strike is a strike action by a critical mass of the labour force in a city, region, or country. While a general strike can be for political goals, economic goals, or both, it tends to gain its momentum from the ideological or class sympathies of the participants...
is proclaimed. While Kjell is occupied as a strike guard, he meets the man who had previously argued with his father. The man claims that the father wasn't innocent, since he had helped to divide the workers. Not until now they were united. Kjell does not agree, instead claiming that education is the key to a better society. Slowly the Andersson family recover from the loss, and eventually the factories open again.
Cast
- Peter Schildt as Kjell Andersson
- Kerstin TideliusKerstin TideliusKerstin Martha Tidelius is a Swedish actress.Born in Stockholm, she worked mainly on stage with a total of about 20 film and TV appearances...
as Karin Andersson - Roland Hedlund as Harald Andersson
- Marie De Geer as Anna Björklund
- Anita BjörkAnita BjörkAnita Björk is a Swedish actress.Born in Tällberg, Dalarna, Anita Björk attended Dramatens elevskola in 1942-45....
as Hedvig Björklund - Olof Bergström as Olof Björklund
- Jonas Bergström as Nisse
- Tommy Malmström as angry young communist
- Olle Björling as strikebreaker
- Pierre Lindstedt as supervisor
- Stefan Feierbach as Åke Andersson
- Martin Widerberg as Martin Andersson
Awards and nominations
Widerberg won the Swedish Guldbagge AwardGuldbagge Award
The Guldbagge Award is an official Swedish film award awarded annually since 1964 by the Swedish Film Institute.-Etymology:Guldbagge is the Swedish name for Cetonia aurata, a beetle also known as rose chafer. The name of the award could also be interpreted as a play on the Swedish word skalbagge,...
for Best Direction, and actor Roland Hedlund won for Best Actor. Internationally, the film won the Special Grand Prize of the Jury
Grand Prix (Cannes Film Festival)
The Grand Prix is an award of the Cannes Film Festival bestowed by the jury of the festival on one of the competing feature films. It is the second-most prestigious prize of the festival after the Palme d'Or...
at the 1969 Cannes Film Festival
1969 Cannes Film Festival
The 22nd Cannes Film Festival was held on May 8 - 23, 1969. At this festival a new non-competitive section called "Directors' Fortnight" is added, in response to the cancellation of the 1968 festival.-Jury:*Luchino Visconti...
and was nominated for both the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film
Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film
The Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film is one of the Academy Awards of Merit, popularly known as the Oscars, handed out annually by the U.S.-based Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences...
and the Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film
Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film
The Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film is one of the awards presented at the Golden Globes, an American film awards ceremony.Until 1986, it was known as the Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Film, meaning that any non-American film could be honoured...
.
See also
- List of submissions to the 42nd Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film
- List of Swedish submissions for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film