Elvira Madigan [VHS]

Elvira Madigan [VHS]
by Bo Widerberg

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Summary of Elvira Madigan [VHS]

Swedish director Bo Widerberg wrote, directed, and edited this film and makes full use of Jorgen Persson's soft, sensual cinematography. Though its plot is almost nonexistent, the film is arrestingly beautiful and the almost-too-attractive actors bring naturalness and depth to their performances, elevating this tale of doomed love above the level of gushy sentiment. For all of its surface appeal, Elvira Madigan is an intelligent film, and Widerberg builds toward genuine tragedy without compromising the dream-like idealism of Sixten and Elvira's unconditional love. Widerberg also inserts a few hints of casual irony, as when Elvira sells a portrait of herself that was drawn by a "cripple" at a cafe in Paris; neither she nor the pawnshop owner recognizes the artist's signature as that of Toulouse-Lautrec! These little grace notes enhance this otherwise lightweight film, and while the tragedy never achieves Shakespearean proportions, this is nevertheless an alluring, introspective portrait of romance at its most sublimely emotional extreme. --Jeff Shannon