Elvira Madigan
1967 | 91 minutes | Biography, Drama, History
Director: Bo Widerberg
Written by: Bo Widerberg
Stars: Pia Degermark, Thommy Berggren, Lennart Malmer, Cleo Jensen
Hedvig Jensen is a famous ropewalker and is known to her public as Elvira Madigan. She meets Lieutenant Sixten Sparre, a Swedish officer who is married and has two children. They fall madly in love and he deserts the army and his family to run away with her.
A friend from Sixten’s regiment tries to persuade him to come back, but fails. They have no money or future and try to fish and earn money as best they can – Hedvig sells a picture of herself drawn by Toulouse-Lautrec and is paid to entertain a party with her dancing. But the situation becomes more desperate, and finally they see death as their only option.
Set to a Mozart concerto, this film was released in 1967 to rapturous critical acclaim and went on to win Best Actress Award at Cannes for its then 17-year old star, Pia Degermark.
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