Ronja, Rövardotter
(aka RONIA, THE ROBBERS' DAUGHTER)
With: Hanna Zetterberg (Ronja), Dan Hafstrom (Birk), Borje Ahlstedt (Mattis), Lena Hyman (Lovis), Per Oscarsson (Borka)
Plot Outline: During a raging storm, a baby girl is born in a castle perched high on a Scandinavian mountaintop. Home of a fierce robber gang led by the proud father, Mattis, this fortress is cleft in two by a bolt of lightning not long after the happy event... Dubbed Ronja by her doting parents, the child grows into a strong-willed, independent youngster, full of curiosity that often leads her into danger, including attacks from evil creatures that lurk outside the protective castle walls, trolls, gnomes and cackling harpies. When another robber gang moves into the deserted half of the split castle, trouble brews... Things become even more tense when Ronja befriends Birk, the son of the rival robber-chief. Things can only get worse (and they do!) before they can get better, as the rivalry grows increasingly violent. Forced to leave home by bitter circumstances, Ronja - along with Birk - faces a tough life in the wild forest. The outcome is by no means certain...
***
Based on the best selling book from the prolific pen of Sweden's best loved children's author, the late Astrid Lindgren, creator of the enduring 'kids lib' icon Pippi Longstocking, this rather more adult-toned fantasy fable, a canny revival (and renewal) of the once-popular 19th century Räuber Roman literary genre, borrows freely from William Shakespeare's 'Romeo And Juliet' whilst adding an existentialist twist.
In a mythological Nordic setting, RONJA RÖVARDOTTER opens with the birth of the titular heroine, as the mountaintop castle lair of father-to-be Mattis (Börje Ahlstedt), fearsome bearded boss of a robber-band, is circled by monstrous cackling, half-human bird-witches, Scandinavian harpies... Moments after the tiny infant is presented to the awestruck father and thence to his fellow thieves, the castle receives a blow from a lightning bolt which splits it in twain; it's hardly an auspicious blessing for new-born Ronja...
Fast forward 11 years and Ronja (Hanna Zetterberg) is now a fiery, head-strong girl with a penchant for having her own way (she's rather like her literary predecessor Pippi in this respect). She's also prone to getting herself into sticky situations, such as when she falls asleep in the forest and awakens to find herself surrounded by a hairy horde of glowing-eyed grey gnomes from which she's only just rescued in time.
But these escapades are as nothing compared with the fall-out from her meeting up with Birk (Dan Hafström), ginger-nutted scion of a rival robber gang led by his father Borka (Per Oscarsson) who have taken up residence in the other half of the bisected castle. Initially wary of this cheeky newcomer, Ronja is soon warming to him, as indeed he is to her, calling the young girl his 'sister'. On several occasions the boy has to rescue Ronja from peril (and indeed she herself saved his life on their first meeting, pulling him from a crevice into which he had fallen).
When Mattis captures Birk and holds him to ransom an enraged Ronja deliberately surrenders herself to Borka's group, thereby spiking her father's plans. With the correct offspring restored to their rightful families, despite the support of her mother Lovis (Lena Nyman), Ronja finds herself disowned by her once-loving father. Unable to stand this cold-shouldering she runs away into the wilds to be with Birk who has also left home in disgust at the perpetual fighting between the rival clans.
As the two children face adversity, not to mention further attacks by the evil harpies, in the harsh environment of the Nordic mountains and forests, the bond between them grows stronger and they become in effect a couple (as with the book the film depicts this dawning sexual awareness with due sensitivity). Repeated attempts by family and friends fail to coax Ronja back into the castle, though she is worried increasingly at the prospect of enduring the long northern winter in the abandoned bear's cave that she and Birk have taken over. Eventually Mattis swallows his pride and both Ronja and Birk return home.
Following a wrestling match between Mattis and Borka, which is won by Ronja's father, the two clans make their peace. Ronja and Birk forswear their robber roots and face the future together: gazing over the beautiful wilds that are their heritage Ronja lets out a demented howl of pure animal joy, her 'spring yell', that is taken up by first Birk and then a chorus of local fauna disturbed by the ungodly racket!
What we have here is not just a great children's film, but a great Fantasy film, period. In the tradition dictated by decades of top-quality filmmaking from the Svensk Filmindustri, director Tage Danielsson, who died in 1985, delivers an exciting film that can be enjoyed by youngsters and adults alike, and without condescending to either (Hollywood take note).
The location photography (overseen by Rune Ericson) is at all times superb, evoking the vastness of the wild and lovely Scandinavian landscape which forms an irresistible backdrop to the unfolding storyline (the film's shooting was split between Norway and Sweden), and Björn Isfalt's score is masterly and thoroughly complementary. Hanna Zetterberg is a compelling Ronja, with her brash smile, feminist-friendly confidence and downright spunk providing a winning mix, and the rest of the cast are no slouches either, handling the demanding action and emotional scenes with aplomb.
Alongside the very gritty, dirty depiction of the lives led by the rival robber gangs (complete with rousing scenes of drunken dancing and singing) are well-executed fantasy scenes involving creatures taken from Nordic folklore. There are recurring comical interludes involving a family of tiny inquisitive trolls ('rumphobs') who live in a burrow in which puppetry and actors are intermingled seamlessly (I love the scene in which they hang their baby's cradle from Ronja's foot after she puts her boot through their ceiling by mistake!).
The monstrous harpies are a (not always entirely successful) mix of live action and animation supervised by Per Åhlin who directed 1974's Swedish live action/cartoon classic DUNDERKLUMPEN, and the nocturnal gnomes (actually played by heavily costumed children) are also pretty creepy creations that might give some younger viewers a sleepless night. One of my favourite moments involves Ronja being lured into the misty forest by a mysterious voice which casts a malign spell over her, a spell that is only broken by Birk's insistent efforts to rouse her from her eerie trance...
To stress we're not watching something from the icky 'Uncle Walt' school of kiddy-flicks there are several very brief nude scenes presented in a matter of fact manner that is fairly standard in Continental filmmaking, and an intensely moving scene in which Skalle-Per (Allan Edwall, an excellent character actor seen in many an Astrid Lindgren adaptation), one of the oldest and much loved members of Mattis' gang, and a favourite of young Ronja, dies: he spends his last night in Mattis' bed, hugging the rough-hewn robber for brotherly warmth before expiring surrounded by all his anxious friends, a tear trickling from his eye.
Those who perhaps feel that under no circumstances should youngsters be allowed any hint of such matters in their films should be aware that in Germany, where the cinema release of RONJA was very popular (it was also shown on TV there in three episodes), the film is rated suitable for children of 6 years upwards. One would imagine that they (or indeed their parents) were not remotely fazed by a few seconds of juvenile skinny-dipping, or the hilarious sight of a bunch of hairy-arsed men running around naked in the snow, and neither am I.
RONJA RÖVARDOTTER has been available for years on various European video releases,including a maverick 'long version' released in Sweden on VHS only that runs over 13 minutes longer than the cinema print that forms the basis for not just one but 3 different DVDs to date, the best of which hails from Sweden (fittingly!) courtesy of Svensk Filmindustri, who have done a sterling job remastering this film for the digital medium.
The print is anamorphically enhanced for widescreen TVs, presenting the film in a letterboxed ratio of 1.77:1, which crops a little picture information from the top and bottom of the image (this missing picture is visible on non-widecreen TVs though, as the print is hard-matted at nearer 1.66:1). The picture quality is probably the best this film is ever going to look, having been cleaned up digitally from the original negative for a perfect viewing experience. The Swedish-dubbed soundtrack has been given a new 5.1 Surround mix and is equally impressive. The running time is 120m29s.
DVD extras are confined to the original trailer, two 'singalong' sequences for the littl'uns (with Swedish undertitles), a (Swedish) text only biography of Astrid Lindgren and a goodly bunch of letterboxed trailers for the other Lindgren related DVD releases from SF, which include two of the wonderful Inger Nilsson-starring PIPPI LONGSTOCKING films, the stirring epic THE BROTHERS LIONHEART and the very wacky KARLSSON ON THE ROOF. There are no English subtitles, but this film is not hard to follow at all.
The packaging is very attractive, featuring a montage painting of scenes from the film, and a little booklet advertising the full range of Astrid Lindgren titles is supplied as an insert. It would have been nice if the extra scenes from the 'Long Version' could have been provided amongst the extras, but maybe there will one day be a seperate DVD of that extended edit, given its wide availability on several tape releases in Sweden. You can also pick up this film on DVD in Switzerland (non-anamorphic 1.66:1, German-dubbed in stereo) and Germany (anamorphic 1.77:1 with a choice of either German or Swedish soundtracks, both in AC3 stereo). It goes without saying that anyone interested in seeing how European directors approach children's Fantasy cinema should check RONJA RÖVARDOTTER out.
-- Nigel Burrell (adapted from earlier reviews published in "IS IT UNCUT?" magazine and the book "DVD DELIRIUM 2")
Video/DVD availability: VHS (various); DVD (Svensk Filmindustri)
a beautiful theatrical poster for RONJA RÖVARDOTTER.
(1984, Sweden/Norway) color 126/120 minutes
FilmTeknik / Norsk Film A/S / SVT Drana /
Svensk Filmindustri / Svensak Ord
Story: Astrid Lindgren (from her novel)
Screenplay: Astrid Lindgren
Music: Bjorn Isfalt
Cinematography: Rune Ericson, Mischa Gavrjusjov, Ole Fredrik Haug
Produced by Waldemar Bergendahl
Directed by Tage Danielsson
