The Last Sentence (2012)

      

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Last Sentence is the English title of a Swedish movie from 2012 – A historical and biographical drama about Torgny Segerstedt, the editor of a provincial newspaper, who is best known and remembered for his strong and consistent criticism of Adolf Hitler and Nazi Germany (1933-1945).

 

Here is some basic information about it:

 

** Swedish title: Dom över död man

** Directed by Jan Troell (born 1931)

** Screenplay written by Jan Troell and Klaus Rifbjerg (1931-2015)

** Based on a biography by Kenne Fant (1923-2016) published in 2007

** Released on DVD in 2014

** Soundtrack: Swedish

** Subtitles: English

** Run time: 120 minutes

 

The cast includes the following:

 

The first group

** Jesper Christensen as Torgny Segerstedt (1876-1945) – editor of GHST 1917-1945 (aka “the Professor”)

** Ulla Skoog as Augusta Wilhelmina Segerstedt (1874-1934) (aka “Puste”) – Torgny’s wife (born in Norway)

** Yohanna Troell as Ingrid Segerstedt (1911-2010) – daughter of Torgny and “Puste”

** Birthe Heribortsson as Estrid Ancker (aka “Trixie”) – Torgny’s secretary

** Maria Heiskanen as Pirjo (born in Finland) – works as a maid for the Segerstedt family

 

The second group

** Björn Granath as Axel Forssman (1877-1942) – publisher of GHST (aka “the Lawyer”)

** Pernilla August as Dagmar Forssman (1881-1942) (aka “Maja”) - Axel’s wife (and Torgny’s mistress)

** Åsa-Lena Hjelm as Ida – works as a maid for the Forssman family

 

The third group

** Kenneth Milldoff as Per Albin Hansson (1885-1946) – Prime Minister of Sweden 1932-1946 (except for a brief interval in 1936)

** Peter Andersson as Christian Günther (1886-1966) – Foreign Minister of Sweden 1939-1945

** Jan Tiselius as Gustav V (1858-1950) – King of Sweden 1907-1950

** Lia Boysen as Anita Levisson – a former actress

** Bengt C.W. Carlsson as a veterinarian

** Per Gørvell as Dr Mannheimer

 

Kenne Fant (1923-2016) was a Swedish actor and the author of several books. His biography of Torgny Segerstedt was published in 2007. When it was published, he contacted Jan Troell, asking him to turn the book into a movie.

 

Troell said maybe and contacted his friend, the Danish author Klaus Rifbjerg. He asked him: are you prepared to help me write the screenplay? Rifbjerg said yes. This is how the movie came to be made. It was made by three old men!

 

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

 

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.

 

Torgny Segerstedt studied religion at the University of Lund. From 1913 to 1917 he was professor of comparative religion at the University of Stockholm. In 1917 he left the university in order to join the world of publishing.

 

He moved to Göteborg (Gothenburg) where he became the editor of a local newspaper: Göteborgs Handels och Sjöfarts Tidning (GHST). In English: Gothenburg’s Journal of Trade and Shipping. He held this post until his death in 1945.

 

Troell’s movie about Torgny Segersted does not cover his whole life from the beginning to the end. It covers only the last twelve years of his life: 1933-1945.

 

In this drama we see two sides of Segerstedt. We see the public side of his life where he is a fearless editor who writes strong editorials against Adolf Hitler and Nazi Germany. We also see the private side of his life, which is quite different from his public life.

 

He has a wife and a daughter, but he does seem to care much about them. His mistress Maja is married to his best friend Axel. Maja’s husband Axel is the publisher of GHST (he is the chairman of the board), and he knows what is going on, but he does not seem to mind. His wife “Puste” is very upset about it, but Torgny ignores her complaints.

 

“Troell makes Segerstedt easy to admire but very hard to like, which is of course part of the movie’s point,” as Glenn Kenny says in his review of the drama on the Roger Ebert website.

 

We have to admire Segerstedt when he writes his editorials against Nazi Germany, but it is hard to like him, because he is not a nice person.

 

In this drama, he cares more about his three huge dogs than he does about the people around him. And this portrayal of his personality seems to be close to the historical truth.

 

Segerstedt’s editorials are published in a provincial paper in Sweden. But they are carefully read in Berlin. And the leaders of Nazi Germany are furious. They complain to the Swedish government. And members of the Swedish government complain to Segerstedt, telling him to stop or at least tone down his criticism of Germany.

 

Segerstedt ignores them. He says it is important to speak out. He says remaining silent about the Nazi tyranny is in effect the same as supporting it.

 

When World War Two begins in 1939, the Swedish government puts more pressure on Segerstedt. On eight occasions his newspaper is confiscated.

 

Segerstedt’s editorials made him very popular in Norway, which was occupied by Germany in 1940, but the Swedish government was afraid that his articles might provoke Germany to ignore Swedish neutrality and declare war on this country. As we know, this never happened.

 

Sadly, Segerstedt did not live to see the end of the war. He died on 31 March 1945, shortly before the war ended. He wanted to outlive Hitler, but this did not happen. He did, however, live long enough to know that Hitler and Nazi Germany would be defeated within a very short time.

 

What do reviewers say about this historical and biographical drama? Here are some answers:

 

** 60 per cent = Meta

** 62 per cent = IMDb

** 43 percent = Rotten Tomatoes (the audience)

** 74 per cent = Rotten Tomatoes (the critics)

 

In my opinion, the first three ratings are too low. On the other hand, I cannot go all the way to the top, because there are some flaws. I think the final rating (Rotten Tomatoes – the critics) is quite appropriate.

 

The Last Sentence is an interesting drama about an interesting person. The topic is important – freedom of expression and freedom of the press – but the drama is not perfect. It is good, but not great. Why not? Because there are some flaws. Let me explain:

 

# 1. The movie is filmed in black-and-white. I do not know why. Perhaps Jan Troell believed that this would make his movie more authentic. If this was his belief, I have to say it does not work. Filming the movie in black-and-white was not a good idea.

 

# 2. From time to time there are ghosts in the movie: Segerstedt has visions of three persons who have passed away. The first ghost is his mother, who died in 1884, when he was eight. The second ghost is his wife, who died in 1934. The third ghost is his mistress, who died in 1942. He talks to them and they talk to him!

 

Having ghosts in a movie is a dramatic device which may be a good idea in a movie about a fictional person. But this drama is about a real historical person. And this dramatic device not work well here. The movie-makers made a poor decision when they decided to let the main character have visions of people who have passed away.

 

Where did this unfortunate idea come from? I suspect it came from the Danish author Klaus Rifbjerg, who was a novelist and not a historian. A novelist can do something like this. A historian would never do it.

 

I like this drama and I want to give it a good rating, but as you can see, it has some flaws. I have to remove one star because of these flaws. This is why I think it deserves a rating of four stars (80 percent).

 

PS # 1. Segerstedt’s mother’s name is Frederika Sofia. Who plays this role? The name is not listed in the credit rolls, but I know the answer. This role is played by the Danish actress Sonja Richter.

 

PS # 2. The English title of the drama is ambiguous, because it has two meanings:

 

(1) The last words written by someone

(2) A judgment or a verdict

 

In this case we have to use the second meaning. The judgment of a dead man is the one that will last, the one that will be remembered, as opposed to judgments that were made while the person was still alive. They will soon be forgotten. The Swedish title Judgment of a Dead Man is borrowed from a line in the Old Norse poem Havamal.

 

PS # 3. I have a few additional remarks about the cast:

(a) Jesper Chrisensen, who plays Segerstedt, is a Danish actor. But to me, his Swedish sounds very convincing.

(b) Ulla Skoog is a Swedish actress, but her character “Puste” is from Norway.

(c) Maria Heiskanen, who plays Pirjo, is a Finnish actress. And her character is from Finland.

(d) Yohanna Troell, who plays Segerstedt’s daughter Ingrid, is the daughter of Jan Troell.

 

*****

The Swedish professor

Torgny Segerstedt

(1876-1945)

 

*****

 

In a Land That No Longer Exists (2022)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In einem Land, das es nicht mehr gibt

English title:

In a Land That No Longer Exists

 

This historical drama premiered in 2022. It about life in East Germany during the final year of this country: 1989. The main character is a teenager whose name is Suzie.

 

The story is fictional, but is inspired by real historical events. The story is based on the personal experience of the writer and director of the drama: Aelrun Goette

 

*****

 

The cast includes the following:

 

** Malene Burow as Suzie (teenager)

** Sabin Tambrea as Rudy (free spirit)

** David Schützer as Coyote (photographer)

** Claudia Michelsen as Dr. Elsa Wilbrodt

** Jördis Thiebel as Gisela

 

*****

 

What is the plot?

 

Suzie is a student in high school. She is in the final year. She is expecting to graduate from high school at the end of the school year. She likes literature. She wants to be a writer. 

 

One day she is stopped by Stasi agents (the secret police). When they search her backpack, they find a copy of the book 1984 by George Orwell. This book is banned in East Germany.

 

Now Suzie must be punished. She is not sent to prison, but she is expelled from her school and she is told that she cannot graduate from high school.

 

In order to punish Suzie, she is ordered to work at a factory where electric cables are produced. The job is not interesting. The female staff do not welcome Suzie, because she is regarded as an outsider.

 

Only one member of the staff is friendly to her and tries to help her settle into the new job.

 

Suzie travels from her home to the factory via the tram. One day, when the tram stops, a photographer happens to stand in the street where the tram stops. 

 

He sees Suzie sitting by the window of the tram and he takes a picture. Suzie does not know what happened. But later she finds out.

 

The East German magazine Sibylle appears six times a year. When the next issue is published, the picture of Suzie is on the cover of the magazine!

 

Suzie’s younger sister Kerstin is jealous. She wants to be a mannequin (a model). She writes a letter to the editor of the magazine, asking:

 

“Can I be a model like my sister Suzie?”

 

A few days later, a letter arrives at Suzie’s home. The editor has replied to the letter written by Kerstin. Suzie is invited to visit the editorial office of the magazine.

 

When Suzie goes to meet the editor of the magazine, she enters a world which she has never known or seen before.

 

*****

 

What is so special about Sibylle?

 

This magazine covers fashion and culture in East Germany. 

 

It was founded in 1956 by designer and fashion writer Sibylle Boden-Gerstner (1920-2016) who was the editor from 1956 to 1961. The magazine was published until 1995.

 

This magazine has a special place in the history of East Germany. It was published only six times a year. Each issue was published in 200,000 copies. It was paid by the East German government.

 

This magazine was very popular. It was so popular that it was always sold out. Each issue was regarded as a treasure. Each issue was shared with friends and family and co-workers. Each issue was read by 10 or 20 persons.

 

Why was this magazine so popular? Because it was about fashion and culture, it was regarded as relatively harmless by the government censors.

 

The staff of Sibylle could publish stories and photos which no regular newspaper could publish. But they still had to be careful. 

 

They presented stories which seemed to be innocent on the surface, but the stories often had some hidden secrets. The staff was constantly testing how far they could go. 

 

The readers loved this magazine, because it offered something which was not boring. Something which was fascinating.

 

Now fate has decided that Suzie can enter this world. She meets the staff and the editor. She becomes a model. Her world has changed. It will never be the same again.

 

In this historical drama, we get to see how life was or how life could be in East Germany during the final year of the Cold War.

 

*****

 

What do reviewers say about this historical drama? 

On IMDb it has a rating of 62 percent.

Two user reviews are posted on the IMDb website. 

Both are positive:

 

** The first review offers a rating of 80 percent

** The second review offers a rating of 90 percent

 

If you are interested in the history of the Cold War - in particular the history of East Germany - this drama is definitely something for you.

 

*****

 

The cover of Sibylle magazine

Example # 1 

 

***** 

 

The cover of Sibylle magazine

Example # 2

 

*****

 

 

Letters Summer 1926 (2001)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Letters Summer 1926:

Pasternak, Tsvetayeva, Rilke

 

This book is a collection of forty-nine letters written by three famous poets:

 

** The Russian writer and poet Boris Pasternak 

(1890-1960)

** The Russian poet Marina Tsvetayeva 

(1892-1941)

** The Austrian poet Rainer Maria Rilke 

(1875-1926)

 

Where were these three persons in 1926?

 

Boris was born in Russia. He survived the revolutions of 1917. His parents and his two sisters left Soviet Russia in 1921, but he did not want to leave the country. He stayed behind.

 

In 1926, he was living in the Soviet Union trying to find a way to live under a new political system

 

Marina was born in Russia. She survived the revolutions of 1917. Five years later, in 1922, she left Soviet Russia in order to avoid the famine which followed after the Civil War (1918–1920).

 

In 1926, she was living in exile in France.

 

Rainer was born in Prague. At that time the city of Prague was a part of the Austrian-Hungarian double monarchy. This is why he is known as an Austrian poet. As an adult, he lived in different countries: Germany and France. During World War One he was in Germany.

 

In 1926, he was living at a sanatorium in Switzerland. He had recently been diagnosed with leukaemia. He knew the end of his life was close.

 

His contribution to this collection of letters was one of his last literary efforts. He died in December 1926.

 

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When we are talking about a correspondence, it is usually letters between two persons. In this case, we have letters between three persons. This is a three-way correspondence.

 

How this this three-way correspondence come about?

How did it happen?

 

The three-way correspondence was initiated by Leonid Pasternak, the father of Boris. In December 1925, Leonid wrote a letter to his old friend Rainer. He had just learned that Rainer was living in Switzerland. Leonid wanted to congratulate Rainer on his 50th birthday.

 

In his letter, Leonid told Rainer that his son Boris was a poet living in the Soviet Union.

 

Leonid also wrote a letter to his son Boris in the Soviet Union. In this letter, he told him that he ad just sent a letter to Rainer in Switzerland in order to wish him a happy birthday.

 

When Rainer heard the news from his father, he was excited. He wrote a letter to Rainer. He also wrote a letter to his good friend Marina who was living in France. In this letter, he told her the news about Rainer.

 

Boris and Marina were interested in German affairs: German history, German culture, and the German language.

 

Rainer was interested in Russian affairs: Russian history, Russian culture, and the Russian language.

 

This is how the three-way correspondence began.

 

○●○●

 

How could Leonid refer to Rainer as his old friend? In order to understand this, we must go back to the time when Rainer was a young man.

 

In 1897, when Rainer's first name was still René, he met a Russian-born woman who became his girlfriend: Lou Andreas-Salomé (1861-1937).

 

They were together for three years (1897-1900). Lou told him to change his first name René to Rainer. He did what she wanted. While they were together, they travelled to Russia two times: in 1899 and in 1900.

 

While they were in Russia, they met the famous Russian writer, Leo Tolstoy.

 

During the first trip (1899), they met him in Moscow.

 

During the second trip (1900), they met him in his home Yasnaya Polyana, which is ca. 200 kilometers south of Moscow.

 

While they were in Russia, they also met Leonid Pasternak and his family, including his son Boris.

 

The first meeting with Leo Tolstoy was arranged by Leonid.

 

In 1899 and 1900, Boris was still a young boy, only nine and ten years old, but the foreign visitors made a big impression on him.

 

As an adult, he still remembered how he had met the Austrian poet, while he himself was still a young boy.

 

○●○●

 

Which topics were discussed in this three-way correspondence?

 

# 1. The creative process. How to write a poem?

# 2. Boris and Marina wanted to praise the poems Rainer had written. Rainer said he was impressed by the poems written by Boris and Marina.

# 3. The harsh reality of life in the 1920s.

# 4. The desire to meet face to face. They were far from each other. They knew it was difficult or impossible to meet but they had to express the desire to meet.

 

○●○●

 

Which languages were used during this three-way correspondence?

 

Two languages were used in these letters:

 

When Boris and Marina wrote to each other, they used Russian.

 

When Boris and Marina wrote to Rainer, they used German

 

When Rainer wrote to Boris and Marina, he used German.

 

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Letters Summer 1926: Boris Pasternak, Marina Tsvetayeva, Rainer Maria Rilke

** With a preface by Susan Sontag

** The letters were translated by Margaret Wettlin and Walter Arndt

** Additional essays were translated by Jamey Gambrell

** This edition was published by the New York Review of Books in 2001 

** The letters were published in German in 1983. The letters were first published in English in 1985

 

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REFERENCES

 

Maria Popova,

“Dissident poet Boris Pasternak on aloneness and why we make art,”

The Marginalian

17 November 2016

 

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Carla Baricz,

“Reading Letters Summer 1926,”

Ploughshares

30 March 2026

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