Rasmus Breistein (November 16, 1890 – October 16, 1976) was a Norwegian film director.Sundholm, John et al. ''Historical Dictionary of Scandinavian Cinema''. Lanham, MD: The Scarecrow Press, p. 88.

Life

Breistein was born in

Åsane Åsane is a borough of the city of Bergen in Vestland county, Norway. The borough makes up the northern part of the city, north of the city centre. Åsane is connected to downtown Bergen by the E16/ E39 highway. The E16 highway continues on ...

in the city of

Bergen Bergen (, ) is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestland county on the Western Norway, west coast of Norway. Bergen is the list of towns and cities in Norway, second-largest city in Norway after the capital Oslo. By May 20 ...

Hordaland Hordaland () was a county in Norway, bordering Sogn og Fjordane, Buskerud, Telemark, and Rogaland counties. Hordaland was the third largest county, after Akershus and Oslo, by population. The county government was the Hordaland County Munici ...

county,

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

. He was a farmer's son and learned to play fiddle in his youth, playing for dances at weddings in

Western Norway Western Norway (; ) is the Regions of Norway, region along the Atlantic coast of southern Norway. It consists of the Counties of Norway, counties Rogaland, Vestland, and Møre og Romsdal. The region has no official or political-administrative fu ...

.''Norsk biografisk leksikon'': Rasmus Breistein.
/ref> Later in life, in addition to directing films, he also performed on the

Hardanger fiddle A hardanger fiddle () is a traditional stringed instrument considered the national instrument of Norway. In modern designs, this type of fiddle is very similar to the violin, though with eight or nine strings (rather than four as on a standard v ...

. When the Norwegian Theater opened in 1913, he started acting at the theater. He became engaged with the new medium of film after seeing

Peter Lykke-Seest Peter Lykke-Seest (26 September 1868 – 4 February 1948) was a Norwegian poet, novelist, playwright, non-fiction writer, script writer and film director. He was born in Christiania as a son of wholesaler Jens Peter Seest and Caroline Chri ...

's productions, and he decided to produce films in a completely different way. His first film was '' Fante-Anne'' (Gypsy Anne, 1920). In an interview he stated that "the film was the beginning of something, a Norwegian production with a more national character." This marked the beginning of the Norwegian heyday of the silent film age. Breistein is considered the most important Norwegian filmmaker of the silent film era. During the period known as the "national breakthrough" in Norwegian film (1920–1930), he directed five feature films: ''Fante-Anne'' (Gypsy Anne, 1920), ''Felix'' (1921), '' Jomfru Trofast'' (Miss Faithful, 1921), '' Brudeferden i Hardanger'' (The Bridal Procession in Hardanger, 1926), and '' Kristine Valdresdatter'' (1930). With these films, he challenged Swedish films' former position of power and pleased both critics and audiences. After audio films were invented, Breistein solidified his reputation as a director of the popular films ''

Ungen ''Ungen'' (The Child or The Kid) is a Norwegian drama film from 1938 directed by Rasmus Breistein. The lead roles are played by Eva Sletto, Harald Heide Steen, and Ragnhild Hald. It is a film adaptation of Oskar Braaten's 1911 play ''Ungen: folk ...

'' (The Child, 1938) and ''

Trysil-Knut ''Trysil-Knut'' is a Norwegian film from 1942. Rasmus Breistein directed this skiing melodrama during the German occupation of Norway. It tells the story of the legendary skier Knut from Trysil, an ardent patriot at the beginning of the 1800s wh ...

'' (Knut from Trysil, 1942). The documentary films ''

Jorden rundt på to timer ''Jorden rundt på to timer'' (Around the World in Two Hours) is a documentary film from 1949 directed by Rasmus Breistein. He traveled the world with the photographer Arild Nybakken and put the clips together into a full-length feature film. Th ...

'' (Around the World in Two Hours, 1949) and ''

Tirich Mir til topps ''Tirich Mir til topps'' (To the Top of Tirich Mir) is a Norwegian documentary film directed by Rasmus Breistein. It describes an expedition to the peak Tirich Mir in the Hindu Kush in northern Pakistan in 1950. The summit was reached by a Nor ...

'' (To the Top of

Tirich Mir Terich Mir (also spelled Terichmir, Tirich Mir and Turch Mir) is the highest mountain of the Hindu Kush range, and the highest mountain in the world outside of the Himalayas–Karakoram range, at above sea level. It is located in the Chitral ...

, 1952) are classics in the history of Norwegian documentary film. He died in

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood ...

, and his urn was brought to Norway and placed in

Bryn Church Bryn Church () is a long church () located in Rykkinn in the municipality of Bærum in Akershus county, Norway. The church functions both as a road church and is the parish church for Bryn. History The church was built in 1861 based on plans by ...

Bærum Bærum () is a list of municipalities of Norway, municipality in the Greater Oslo Region in Akershus County, Norway. It forms an affluent suburb of Oslo on the west coast of the city. Bærum is Norway's fifth largest municipality with a populatio ...

Films directed

*1952: ''Tirich Mir til topps'' (To the Top of Tirich Mir) *1949: ''

'' (Around the World in Two Hours) *1943: ''

Den nye lægen ''Den nye lægen'' () is a 1943 Norwegian drama film directed by Rasmus Breistein, starring Jon Lennart Mjøen. The film is based on a play by Bjarne Viggo Holbæk-Hansen. Cast * Eva Lunde as Rigmor, hans datter * Erna Schøyen as Klara, ha ...

'' (The New Doctor) *1942: ''

'' (Knut from Trysil) *1941: '' Gullfjellet'' (Gold Mountain) *1939: '' Hu Dagmar'' (Dagmar) *1938: ''

'' (The Child) *1934: ''Liv'' (Life) *1932: ''Skjærgårdsflirt'' (Skerry Flirtation) *1930: '' Kristine Valdresdatter'' *1926: ''Brudeferden i Hardanger'' (The Bridal Procession in Hardanger) *1921: '' Felix'' *1921: '' Jomfru Trofast'' (Miss Faithful) *1920: '' Fante-Anne'' (Gypsy Anne)

Awards

* 1961: Aamot Statuette

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Breistein, Rasmus Norwegian film directors Mass media people from Bergen 1890 births 1976 deaths