LE PECHE SUEDOIS

English description

English title: THE BABY CARRIAGE Original title: BARNVAGNEN Directed by : Bo Widerberg With : Inger Taube, Thommy Berggren, Lars Passgärd Sweden, 1963, 95 min DVD 9, Zone 2, Black and white Original Sweden version with French subtitles. Following his manifesto for a new Swedish cinema, director Widerburg started his career with this realist tale of young woman, Britt, who has two flings, but finds herself with difficult decisions when she finds herself pregnant. Swedish filmmaker Bo Widerberg is best known internationally for his impressionistic romantic drama ELVIRA MADIGAN (1967). Three of his films, ALL THINGS FAIR (1996), ADALEN 31 (1969), and RAVEN'S END (1964), have received Oscar nominations for Best Foreign Film. Widerberg started out as a novelist, but turned to filmmaking after writing "Visionen i Svensk Film/Vision in Swedish Film" (1962), a scathing criticism of Ingmar Bergman's alleged monopoly of Swedish cinema. In his treatise, Widerberg argued for films containing realistic themes dealing with earthier concerns rather than the Bergmanesque tendency to address lofty abstractions on the existence of God. In hopes of creating a "new wave" in Swedish cinema, one that addressed the seething inner lives of characters rather than their neatly unified, socially progressive exteriors, Widerberg made THE BABY CARRIAGE (1963), the story of a young single and pregnant woman who chooses independence over two potential suitors. It was hailed as one of the first Swedish films to accurately portray the foibles and stresses of modern city life. Bonus: Booklet 12 pages : filmography of Bo Widerberg, article by Marten Blomkvist