The Christmas Oratorio

 ((JULORATORIET))

By GUNNAR REHLIN

(SWEDISH) A Sandrews release (in Sweden) of a Sandrews/Sveriges Television Goteborg/Filmhusateljerna production, in association with Norsk Rikskringkasting (Norway) and Danmarks Radio (Denmark). (International sales: Swedish Film Institute, Stockholm.) Produced by Katinka Farago, Anita Hallgren. Directed by Kjell-Ake Andersson. Screenplay, Andersson, Kjell Sundstedt, based on the novel by Goran Tunstrom.
 
Aron ... Peter Haber
Sidner ... Johan Widerberg
Younger Sidner ... Henrik Linnros
Solveig ... Lena Endre
Eva-Lisa ... Sophia Johansson
Younger Eva-Lisa ... Irina Sagtegen
Victor ... Krister Henriksson
Younger Victor ... Axel Widegren
Fanny ... Viveka Seldahl
The Cannonball King ... Tomas von Bromssen
Selma Lagerlof ... Sif Ruud
Falldin ... Per Oscarsson
 

(Swedish and English dialogue)

Based on the bestselling novel by Goran Tunstrom, "The Christmas Oratorio" is a sad and beautiful story of the power of love, in both its negative and its positive senses. Pic has bowed successfully on home turf and could do well on the international arthouse circuit.

Story starts in the present day, with Victor (Krister Henriksson) reading letters from the father he hasn't seen since he was a child. Through the letters are told a captivating story, beginning with a tragic death 60 years earlier.

Back in the '30s, the beautiful and lively Solveig (Lena Endre) is killed in an accident. Her grieving husband, Aron (Peter Haber), and their two kids, Sidner and Eva-Lisa, move to the nearest town. In his grief, Aron neglects his kids, but through a radio ham he comes in touch with a woman on the other side of the world, in New Zealand, who becomes his only reason for existence.

Meanwhile, Sidner (Johan Widerberg) grows up, making friends among the town's eccentrics, including Selma Lagerlof (Sif Ruud), author of, among others, the novel "Jerusalem" (recently filmed by Bille August). When he reaches 16, he's seduced by the older Fanny (Viveka Seldahl), who becomes pregnant. The child is Victor.

The basic theme of Tunstrom's yarn is that everybody has a story to tell, and that what happens today, however insignificant, can have repercussions decades later: If Solveig, for instance, hadn't been killed that tragic day, Victor would not exist. Pic is also a story of the power of love: Aron loves Solveig so much that he is destroyed by it; his son eventually finds peace through the woman his father got to know on the other side of the world.

Helmer Kjell-Ake Andersson has had to cut a lot out of Tunstrom's sprawling novel. Several characters have disappeared and others are given too little screen time (especially those played by top actors such as Tomas von Bromssen and Per Oscarsson). Still, he's succeeded in maintaining the basic elements and personalities, and made their stories moving and affecting. He's also managed to keep away from the theme-park look that plagues so many Swedish period films.

Acting is good overall, with Seldahl standout as the tragic Fanny, and Endre, as usual, delivering a radiant performance, despite short screen time. Ruud is excellent as real-life author Lagerlof. Among the men, Haber plays Aron low-key and sincere; Widerberg is good, but his part of a youth seduced by an older woman is very similar to the one in his father, Bo Widerberg's, "All Things Fair."

Lensing, by Dane Harald Paalgaard, is top-drawer. Music by Stefan Nilsson is good, but the main theme is too reminiscent of Ennio Morricone to get real plaudits.

Camera (color), Harald Paalgaard; editor, Darek Hodor; music, Stefan Nilsson; art direction, Staffan Sorhammar, Jan Carlberg, Gunnar Bertilsson; sound (Dolby SR), Stefan Mattisson, Christian Gyllensten, Rune Bergstrom, Niklas Skarp. Reviewed at the Royal Theater, Stockholm, Sept. 12, 1996. Running time: 124 MIN.
 

With: Robbie Baines, Torgny "Kingen" Karlsson, Ingvar Hirdwall, Jonas Karlsson, Fiona Mogridge, Glenis Levestam, Mick Rose.