''Lucie'' is a Norwegian drama film from 1979 directed by Jan Erik Düring. It stars Inger Lise Rypdal, Gösta Ekman,

Kari Simonsen Kari Simonsen (born 5 June 1937) is a Norwegian actress. She made her professional stage debut at Folketeatret in 1959. She was appointed at Oslo Nye Teater from 1960 to 1972, and at Nationaltheatret from 1974. She has also played for radio ...

, and Nils Sletta. The film is based on

Amalie Skram Amalie Skram (22 August 1846 – 15 March 1905) was a Norwegian author and feminist who gave voice to a woman's point of view with her naturalist writing. In Norway, she is frequently considered the most important female writer of the Modern B ...

's novel ''Lucie'', which dealt with the conditions and limitations of women at the end of the 19th century in Norway.

Plot

In the second half of the 19th century, Kristiania (now Oslo) offered a varied entertainment life. There were a number of variety theaters, and the city also had its own brothel district. Prostitution was legal, and it was considered justified for a woman to obtain financial and other benefits from her body and physical advantages. The beautiful variety theater actress Lucie (played by Inger Lise Rypdal) is certainly aware of this fact. She has made the acquaintance of the lawyer Gerner ( Gösta Ekman), a fine and educated gentleman in the city. This all develops into an erotic relationship, and Lucie knows how to play on Gerner's jealousy and masculine pride. She eventually manages to marry into good society, but it proves difficult to be accepted without the right class background. Her life does not turn out as she expected and, after a pregnancy in which the relationship with her husband is constantly deteriorating, she dies in childbirth.

Reception

The film received a mixed reception from both ''

Aftenposten (; ; stylized as in the masthead) is Norway's largest printed newspaper by circulation as well as Norway's newspaper of record. It is based in Oslo. It sold 211,769 daily copies in 2015 (172,029 printed copies according to University of Bergen ...

'''s and ''

Dagbladet () is one of Norway's largest newspapers and is published in the Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid format. It has 1,400,000 daily readers on mobile, web and paper. Traditionally it was considered the main liberal newspaper of Norway, with a ...

'''s reviewers. ''Aftenposten'''s Øyvind Thorsen wrote, among other things: "It is my opinion that the first half of the film is very stagnant; sometimes one gets a little depressed by boredom as well," but he concluded by writing: "A film to be depressed by, but fortunately first and foremost because of its tragic content." ''Dagbladet'''s Thor Ellingsen also expressed mixed enthusiasm and wrote, among other things: "I find Lucie significantly better than what advance statements have wanted it to be. In fact, I had thought it was much worse." But he also suggests that Rypdal's performance pulls the film down: "Rypdal's remarks often seem flat and 'modern' in an illusion-breaking way."

Cast

* Inger Lise Rypdal as Lucie * Gösta Ekman as Gerner * Rut Tellefsen as Karen Reinertsen *

as Nilsa * Nils Sletta as Olsen * Sigrid Huun as Henny * Alf Nordvang as Dr. Mørk * Unni Evjen as Mrs. Mørk * Karin Helene Haugen as the housekeeper * Siri Rom as the midwife *

Arne Bang-Hansen Arne Bang-Hansen (September 8, 1911 – February 23, 1990) was a Norwegians, Norwegian actor that performed at the National Theatre (Oslo), National Theater in Oslo for many years. Acting career Arne Bang-Hansen played a total of 155 roles at t ...

as Brandt * Elisabeth Høye as a street prostitute * Peter Lindgren as the rapist * Svein Tindberg as Knut * Ingeborg Cook

References

External links

*
''Lucie''
at the

National Library of Norway The National Library of Norway () was established in 1989. Its principal task is "to preserve the past for the future". The library is located both in Oslo and in Mo i Rana. The building in Oslo was restored and reopened in 2005. Prior to the e ...

''Lucie''
at the

Swedish Film Database The Swedish Film Database () is an Internet database about Swedish films, published by the Swedish Film Institute The Swedish Film Institute () (SFI) is a statutory body located in Stockholm, Sweden that supports the Swedish film industry. Fo ...

1979 films Norwegian drama films 1970s Norwegian-language films 1979 drama films Films directed by Jan Erik Düring {{Norway-film-stub