Edvard Munch (film)

Edvard Munch
DVD cover
Directed by	Peter Watkins
Written by	Peter Watkins
Starring	Geir Westby Gro Fraas
Narrated by	Peter Watkins
Cinematography	Odd Geir Sæther
Edited by	Peter Watkins
Release date	1974 (1974)
Running time	210 minutes/174 minutes (US)
Countries	Sweden Norway
Language	English/Norwegian

Edvard Munch (Norwegian pronunciation: [ˈɛ̀dvɑɖ ˈmʊŋk] ^ⓘ) is a 1974 biographical film about the Norwegian Expressionist painter Edvard Munch, written and directed by English filmmaker Peter Watkins. It was originally created as a three-part miniseries co-produced by the Norwegian and Swedish state television networks NRK and SVT, but subsequently gained an American theatrical release in a three-hour version in 1976. The film covers about thirty years of Munch's life, focusing on the influences that shaped his art, particularly the prevalence of disease and death in his family and his youthful affair with a married woman. The film was screened at the 1976 Cannes Film Festival, but wasn't entered into the main competition.

Synopsis

The story begins in 1884 with an introduction to the class-system in the Norwegian capital of Kristiania. It also shows the conditions of the Munch household, which is often visited upon by illness, insanity and death. Much’s father Christian is a pious doctor, who does not approve of sin son’s friendship with the Kristiania Boheme. This group of intellectuals consist of anarchist author Hans Jaeger, naturalistic painter Christian Krogh and feminists like Andrea Fredrikke Emilie. Munch has been painting for the last five years and has made about a dozen canvases, mostly views of his country near his home, and portraits of his family. Inspired by Jaeger he begins to express himself more personally. His first completed painting, the portrait of his sister “Inger in Black”, is heavily criticized by the Kristiania conservative press. The assault on his work is to continue for the next 15 years.

In May 1885 Munch visits Paris, where he is first exposed to classical art. After returning, he begins a relationship with a married women he refers to as “Mrs. Heiberg”. Their relationship is heavily plagued with jealousy on Munch’s part. This affects his work as he paints “The Sick Child” which depicts his sister Sophie who died from tuberculosis. He also begins putting several layers of texture on his paintings, and cuts deep into the canvas. The painting and his other works are heavily attacked by the Kristiania public and conservative press. Because of this, Munch begins a two-year withdrawal.

In 1888 the Kristiania Boheme has begun to disintegrate, and Munch rents a cottage at Asgardstrand. He still pursues Mrs. Heiberg, while trying to distance himself from her. He cultivates a relationship with the young painter Aase Carlson, who rejects his advances. A feeling of tension and loneliness enters Munch’s paintings, and the loose brushstrokes disappear. In April his work is attacked again by the critics in Kristiania, and he leaves for Paris to study art.

In November 1889 Munch’s father Christian dies, and so the painter begins to re-assess the values and beliefs of Hans Jaeger. In Paris, Naturalism in art is being replaced by Symbolism, and Munch begins to articulate his artistic philosophy. It is to understand and express the purpose of people’s existence. His painting “Night in St. Cloud” is another breakthrough but is heavily attacked when exhibited at the State Autumn Exhibition in Kristiania in September 1890.

In 1891 Munch makes another breakthrough when painting two lovers whose faces blend into one another. He now uses all forms of media to his disposal to strip away needless details and perspective. Other breakthroughs, including a new portrait of his sister Inger and “Despair”, are heavily attacked by the Norwegian press. An exhibition in Berlin is also heavily criticized and is shut down. While living in Imperial Germany, Munch befriends authors like August Strindberg, Sigbjorn Obsfelder and Stanislaw Przybyszewski, and takes the musical-student Dagny Juell as his mistress. He also begins to suffer from agoraphobia.

In 1893 Munch paints “Madonna”, using Juell as his model. He continues with the artistic themes of love, pain, despair and death, and creates several depictions of the death of his sister to deal with the grief and isolation of his family and himself. He also creates “Love and Pain”, which Przybyszewski retitles “Vampire”. In February his 15th exhibition is attacked by critics in Copenhagen. Munch’s health and mind is deteriorating as he creates his most famous work “The Scream” which is criticized at his 24th exhibition in Berlin.

In 1894 Munch paints “Anxiety”, “Puberty”, and newer versions of older paintings. He begins using copper engraving and later moves on to etching and acquaint. In July he gets his first serious recognition by art-critic Julius Meier-Graefe, Stanislaw Przybyszewski and two other German critics.

In October 1895 Munch’s work is yet again attacked at an exhibition at Bloomqvist Gallery in Kristiania. A boycott is called for, and police are summoned. Many of Munch’s contemporaries rally behind him, realizing that his art is probing into a new understanding of the human psyche. He also beings mastering woodcut, using the technique to recolor his previous works.

The narrator gives an epilogue of what is to happen to Munch and many of the people in his life. The movie ends with a quote: “I felt as if there were invisible threads between us. I felt as if invisible threads from her hair still twisted themselves around me. And when she completely disappeared there, over the ocean, then I felt still how it hurt, where my heart bled, because the threads could not be broken”.

Style

Like Watkins' other films, Edvard Munch uses a docudrama approach; scenes from Munch's life are re-enacted by a large cast (mostly Norwegian non-professional actors), but there is also a voiceover narration by Watkins, and there are moments when the characters speak directly to camera, as if being interviewed about their own lives or their opinions of Munch. Some of the dialogue was improvised by the cast, especially in the interview segments. To convey the hostile response Munch's work often received during his lifetime, Watkins recruited Norwegians who genuinely disliked the paintings.

Distribution and responses

After its initial broadcast, the film was briefly an international success but was not widely available for many years afterward. Watkins has said that network officials tried to suppress its distribution, and tried to bar it from competition in the Cannes Film Festival, because they disapproved of its use of non-professional actors and anachronistic dialogue. After NRK relinquished rights to the film in 2002, it gained a wider international release.

Ingmar Bergman called the film a "work of genius".

Cast

• Geir Westby as Edvard Munch
• Gro Fraas as Fru Heiberg
• Johan Halsbog as Dr. Christian Munch
• Lotte Teig as Laura Cathrine Bjølstad
• Gro Jarto as Laura Cathrine Munch
• Rachel Pedersen as Inger Marie Munch
• Berit Rytter Hasle as Laura Munch
• Gunnar Skjetne as Peter Andreas Munch
• Kare Stormark as Hans Jæger
• Eli Ryg as Oda Lasson
• Iselin Bast as Dagny Juell
• Alf Kåre Strindberg as August Strindberg
• Eric Allum as Edvard - 1868
• Amund Berge as Edvard - 1875
• Kerstii Allum as Sophie - 1868
• Inger-Berit Oland as Sophie - 1875
• Susan Troldmyr as Laura - 1868
• Camilla Falk as Laura - 1875
• Ragnvald Caspari as Peter - 1868
• Erik Kristiansen as Peter - 1875
• Katja Pedersen as Inger - 1868
• Anne-Marie Dæhli as Inger - 1875

External links

• Notes on Edvard Munch on Peter Watkin's website
• Edvard Munch at IMDb
• Stanford Museum document on screening of film