The Passion of Marie (2012)

The Passion of Marie is the English title of a Danish historical and biographical drama (based on a true story) which premiered in 2012. It is about the female artist Marie Krøyer and the people around her. Here is some basic information about this drama:

** Original Danish title: Balladen om Marie Krøyer

** Director: Bille August

** Writer: Peter Asmussen

** Based on the book Balladen om Marie by Anastassia “Tonni” Arnold (first published in Danish in 2000; reprinted in 2012)

** Soundtrack: mostly Danish, sometimes Swedish

** Subtitles: English

** Run time: 103 minutes

The cast includes the following

** Birgitte Hjort Sørensen as Marie Krøyer (1867-1940) – a Danish artist – her first marriage (to P. S. Krøyer) 1889-1905 – her second marriage (to Hugo Alfvén) 1912-1936 – her first daughter (Vibeke) was born 1895 – her second daughter (Margita) was born 1905

** Søren Sætter-Lassen as P. S. Krøyer (1851-1909) – a Danish artist

** Sverrir Gudnason as Hugo Alfvén (1872-1960) – a Swedish composer

** Vera Torp Larsson as Vibeke “Vipsen” Krøyer (1895-1985) – the only daughter of Marie and P. S. Krøyer

** Tommy Kenter as Viggo Lachmann (1864-1928) – a Danish lawyer

** Lene Maria Christensen as Anna Norrie (1860-1957) – a singer – Marie’s best friend

** Nanna Buhl Andresen as Henny Brodersen – the nanny

** Anders Gjellerup Koch as Doctor Lange

While this drama is based on a true story, it is not a documentary film. It is a dramatized version of events. Not everything happened exactly as shown here. But the basic story is true.

Since this drama is based on a true story, the basic facts are part of the public record. They are not a secret. Therefore I feel free to mention some of them in this review.

P. S. Krøyer (who was born in Norway) is a famous Danish painter. During the summer season he lived and worked in Skagen (the northern tip of Jutland) where there is a special light, because two oceans meet each other at this place.

The letters P. and S. stand for Peder Severin. But in this drama, he is constantly addressed as Søren. I am not sure why. Perhaps because this is the first name of the actor who plays this role!

The last name of the artist is spelled Krøyer in Danish, but in English texts the name is often spelled Kroyer, because the letter ø does not exist in the English version of the Latin alphabet.

In this drama, the focus is not on the famous painter, but on his wife Marie and the people around her. While the drama is about the life of Marie, it does not cover her whole life from the beginning in 1867 to the end in 1940.

The drama begins in 1900 when the daughter Vibeke is five years old. The drama ends in 1910, one year after the death of P. S. Krøyer. The first three decades and the last three decades of Marie’s life are not covered. The drama covers merely one decade of a life that lasted more than seven decades.

I assume the time frame 1900-1910 is chosen because it is a crucial time in Marie’s life: it is the time when her marriage to P. S. Krøyer comes to an end (after a long separation) and the time when her relationship with the Swedish composer Hugo Alfvén begins.

What do reviewers say about this historical and biographical drama? Here are the results of two review aggregators:

** 46 per cent = Rotten Tomatoes (the general audience)

** 63 per cent = IMDb

If you ask me, both ratings are too low. The former is something like two stars on Amazon, while the latter is something like three stars on Amazon. I think this level is too low. Why?

The script is well-written and the actors play their roles well. The story is captivating, dramatic, and sometimes highly emotional. In addition, the drama is based on a true story.

Two or three stars are not enough for this drama. On the other hand I cannot go all the way to the top with this product. It is good, but not great. Why do I say this? I have two reasons:

# 1. The drama follows the true story for most of the time, but there is at least one case where historical truth has been violated (for no good reason).

In the drama, Marie and Hugo see each other for the first time during an art exhibition in Copenhagen. The affair starts later in another location.

In the real world, things were quite different: Marie and Hugo meet each other for the first time in Taormina, Sicily, in 1902, and the affair begins at once and right there. The drama is set in Denmark and Sweden, but never in Italy.

# 2. Marie and other characters travel a good deal. Between Copenhagen and Skagen; sometimes between Denmark and Sweden. But we never see them while they are travelling.

The journey from Skagen to Copenhagen (or the other way) is one of the longest journeys you can undertake in Denmark. Even today this journey takes a long time. One hundred years ago, this journey was more complicated and took much longer than it does today. But the drama never shows this fact.

There is, in fact, one scene where we see Marie boarding a train in Skagen. Her destination is Copenhagen. The train starts moving and then the scene ends. This whole scene takes less than a minute. It shows merely the departure, but not the actual journey.

Travelling was an important part of Marie’s life. She visited not only Sweden and Germany, but also France and Italy. Therefore I think the drama should tell us and show us how she managed to travel as much as she did. It is a shame this aspect of her life is not included.

I like this drama and I want to give it a good rating, but as you can see, there are some flaws, which cannot be ignored; which cannot be overlooked. I have to remove one star because of them. Therefore I think it deserves a rating of four stars.

PS. For information about P. S. Krøyer and other Skagen painters, see the following book: Northern Light: The Skagen Painters by Lise Svanholm (2003).

*****

 

Balladen om Marie by Tonni Arnold

(first published 2000, reprinted 2012)

The movie is based on this book

*****