Hamsun Jan Troell Digital Life VHS

Hamsun
starring: Max von Sydow, Ghita Nørby, Anette Hoff, Gard B. Eidsvold, Eindride Eidsvold
directed by: Jan Troell

Used Price: $3.86
Third Party New Price: $7.97

Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Binding: VHS Tape
EAN: 9786305021186
Format: Color, Subtitled, NTSC
ISBN: 630502118X
Label: First Run Features
Manufacturer: First Run Features
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: First Run Features
Release Date: November 16, 1999
Running Time: 159 minutes
Sales Rank: 8725
Studio: First Run Features
Theatrical Release Date: August 06, 1997

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Editorial Review:

Amazon.com:
Director Jan Troell's biography of Norwegian, Nobel Prize-winning author, Knut Hamsun (Max von Sydow), is as much about Norway's experiences with Hitler as it is about Hamsun's personal life. Opening with a scene that establishes Hamsun's torrent relationship with his wife, Marie (Ghita Nørby), the film examines the couple's gradual conversion to Nazism, as Germany occupies Norway during World War II. Persuaded by a Nazi embassador sent to Oslo, Vidkun Quisling (Sverre Anker), both Marie and Knut become spokespeople for the Nazi Party, justifying their politics by the German promise of a strong, independent post-war Norway. As the Hamsuns discover the hushed horrors around them, their own personal relationship falls away, forcing them to reflect on their lives, their dysfunctional children, and their mistakes. Known as a traitor in Norway, Knut Hamsun, in this film, is portrayed as a true Norwegian patriot, proving, through Hamsun's own words, that his misdirected desire to aid Hitler had nothing to do with anti-semitism. A sad beauty permeates Hamsun. Just as the author sentences himself, the viewer musters up enough sympathy for Hamsun to learn that, indeed, the personal is political. --Trinie Dalton

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Customer Reviews

Average Rating: out of 5 stars

Rating:

- The Lion in Winter
Although I know this will strike some readers as extreme, my response to Jan Troell's "Hamsun" is that there's nothing in this film that isn't perfect. Screenplay, cinematography, acting, historical authenticity, musical score: everything is exactly as it should be. It's a pity that the film isn't better known. For that matter, it's a pity that Hamsun the author isn't better read these days.

The narrative begins in 1935, when Hamsun is already in his mid-70s. Winner of the 1920 Nobel Prize for Literature, lionized as Norway's greatest son, Hamsun is a study in purposeless alienation. He hasn't written a word in years, he's lost the respect of his jealous wife, his relationship with his children is distant, he's isolated himself from the public on his huge estate, and his growing deafness pushes him ever deeper into solitude. Consequently, Hamsun is a man who lives in a world of abstract ideas. ... Read More

Rating:

- Max von Sydow carries the film
Hamsun (Jan Troell, 1996)

Jan Troell, largely unknown to American audiences since he severed his troubled relationship with Hollywood in the late seventies, has here created an interesting, if flawed, portrait of Knut Hamsun, one of the twentieth century's great writers, and a man who found himself on the wrong end of the stick during World War II. Hamsun is portrayed by Max von Sydow, and truthfully, von Sydow-- a man capable of making anything watchable (well, okay, we'll overlook Exorcist II: The Heretic)-- is easily the best thing about this film. That is not to say he's the only good thing, but it is von Sydow's performance that carries the film beyond where it really should go.

The time is the early forties. Norway has been occupied by the Germans, and not all Norwegians are thrilled with the prospect. Hamsun is one of those who is, and he throws himself into writing pro-Hitler propaganda ... Read More

Rating:

- A towering portrayal by that great actor, Max von Sydow
There are two excellent reasons to watch this film. First, to observe the artist as obliviously self-involved, a figure of genius at what his talent enables him to accomplish and, at the same time, something of a monster in believing his talent justifies his unshakably selfish behavior and naive, misguided beliefs. Second, to see yet another magnificent portrayal by Max von Sydow. I think a case can be made that von Sydow has emerged as the greatest film actor of the last fifty years.

Knut Hamsun is one of the great writers of Western culture. He was born in 1859 in Norway, achieved a towering reputation as a novelist and poet, was awarded the Nobel prize for literature in 1920 and forever will have an asterisk by his name. The asterisk? Knut Hamsun* passionately supported the rise of Nazism, believed to the end that Hitler was a great man and supported the Nazi occupation of Norway.

Hamsun believed ... Read More

Rating:

- Great Acting, But Incomplete
As usual, Max Von Sydow is excellent in his role of the great Nobel Laureate and Norwegian novelist, Knut Hamsun.

To be sure, I would've liked to see the director and producer delve back deeper into Hamsun's history. I think his formative years and time in America would have been more than worthwhile to chronicle. Hamsun was an incredibly lucid and accomplished author and one of the more compelling figures of the 20th Century. The totality of his life is a lesson in perserverance, rugged individualism, and originality. A more complete representation of his life is required to give viewers what they deserve.

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