Az ifjú Astrid

I didn't expect such an engaging and, in a way, moving biopic. I was rather expecting some boring recap of the life of one of the most popular authors of children's literature. I had no idea that this eternally young-at-heart lady at an early age was not so innocent after all and certainly didn’t lie on a bed of roses. And it is the joys and sorrows of her youth that are mapped out in this movie, accompanied by beautiful music, and after watching it I feel like I really understand why Astrid started writing children's books and why she managed to stand out above the rest in her genre. This is probably also be largely due to the fact that a painful experience experienced by those kissed by amuse drives them forward and greatly influences their work, while being essentially incommunicable. (90%) (2022.03.04)

I welcome any biopic that doesn't take the simplest route, and this one at least lived up to it by showing only part of the author's life, her childhood/youth, before she really started writing. In fact, if it hadn't been about a famous writer, it could easily have been a film depicting hard times in the Swedish countryside before the war. There's probably nothing more to write, except that Astrid messed up her life a lot right from the start, but she managed to cope with it very bravely, with the help of a fairly understanding family (for the time and circumstances) and the happiness of the people around her (caregiver Marie and her new boss). IN A NUTSHELL: Independence was the writer's big theme and, as you can see, she had to learn it very early on. (2023.03.27)