Directed by Bo Widerberg • 1967 • Sweden
Starring Pia Degermark, Thommy Berggren, Lennart Malmer
Based on a true nineteenth-century romantic tragedy, this rapturously beautiful period drama traces the doomed affair between a teenage tightrope walker (Pia Degermark, winner of the Cannes Best Actress prize) and a young Swedish officer (Thommy Berggren) who deserts both the army and his family to be with her. As the economic precarity of their situation becomes clear, however, cold, hard reality begins to intrude upon their lovers’ idyll. The gorgeous, sun-dappled cinematography and Mozart soundtrack (the Piano Concerto no. 21, which came to be known as the “Elvira Madigan Concerto”) enhance the air of intoxicating romanticism.
Up Next in The Cinema 5 Story
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The Firemen’s Ball
Directed by Miloš Forman • 1967 • Czechoslovakia
Starring Jan Vostrcil, Josef Šebánek, František ReinsteinA milestone of the Czech New Wave, Miloš Forman’s first color film THE FIREMEN’S BALL is both a dazzling comedy and a provocative political satire. A hilarious saga of good intentions confo...
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Z
Directed by Costa-Gavras • 1969 • Algeria, France
Starring Yves Montand, Jean-Louis Trintignant, Irene PapasA pulse-pounding political thriller, Greek expatriate director Costa-Gavras’s Z was one of the cinematic sensations of the late sixties, and remains among the most vital dispatches from t...
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Gimme Shelter
Directed by David Maysles, Albert Maysles, and Charlotte Zwerin • 1970 • United States
Called the greatest rock film ever made, this landmark documentary follows the Rolling Stones on their notorious 1969 U.S. tour. When three hundred thousand members of the Love Generation collided with a few d...
