I bought this at a used video shop a few months ago and I finally watched it the other day. What a beautiful film and what a sad story. From the very start of the film, you know the two lovers are going to shoot themselves...it tells you that before the film even starts! This was based on true events. Elvira was a world famous tight-rope walker, who wants to escape from her parents and circus life. Sixten is an aristocratic military officer (married with children) who deserts the military, his family and runs off with Hedwig (Elvira's real name.) They soon run out of money, things go from bad to worse, and they both have to face the reality of the choices they made to be together. I think this movie won best film at Canne in 67, but I'm not sure.

The actor who played Sixten really interested me. The way he changes physically thoughout the film...

The entire film looks like a beautiful painting from beginning to end.

Has anyone seen this?

Oh, yes! I think that a part of what made it so famous was Bo Wiederberg's use of Mozart's Concerts for Piano and Orchestra (# 17 + 21 as far as I remember). I also think the award was given for the use of music, but I can easily be wrong.

Here are a picture of Elvira Madigan and Sixten Sparre:

http://www.lottaworld.com/personal/picture...raochsparre.jpg

This is the church where they are buried:

http://www.nationalbanken.dk/C1256B7300542...rgens-Kirke.jpg

And this is their grave:

http://www.astoft.co.uk/Dscn2719-u1-540-u0.5-q60.jpg

It's a tradition that brides leave their wedding bouquet on the grave.

The film is shot on location on the small Danish island Tåsinge. It is indeed very beautiful. :-)

I did see this film. It is beautiful visually and of course the music is haunting. Maybe if I saw it today I would feel differently and maybe I'm not romantic but if it had been me, I would have preferred to start a new if ordinary life elsewhere than to die to uphold a beautiful dream. I'm guess more practical about love; I find the ordinary things of life are exalted by love and it's a pleasure to live an "ordinary" life with the one you love.

Thanks for posting those beautiful pics, dorthea!

Fiveoaks, nobody have ever really believed that Hedvig/Elvira consented to the "suicide". It's far more likely that Sixten Sparre simply killed her and then commited suicide himself. He was a famed "desperado", a gambler and an adventurer. He was deep in dept, and his family refused to come to his rescue this time. Besides, some of his letters indicate that he was rather depressed at the time.

But, but, but....immediately after the bodies were found this "love story" began to take shape, and the funeral itself was a huge theater.

I guess we still live in the romantic era...

Btw, I have always felt terribly sorry for his wife and four children.

This is one of my all time favorite movies. So beautifully made. And even though the story is not a happy one, I watch it at least once a year.

Thanks for the additional info, dorthea. Hmmm... I think this scenario sounds more likely to me. Even while watching the film I was never entirely convinced that she was 100% in agreement. I guess Sixten was just not the kind of guy to suddently turn into a 9-to-5er and live in a little cottage planting tomatoes on the weekend as a hobby!

It would be very interesting to see this film remade based on the more realistic scenario and characters you explained--and I'm usually not in favour of remakes of classic films!

LOL! No, he certainly wasn't that kind of guy!

His marriage wasn't happy, and Hedvig wasn't the first girl he had a love affair with. I doubt she would have been the last either.

I still feel sorry for them though.

It seems like one hundred years ago when I saw this film. I left the theater horribly depressed. Swedish films seem to do that to me.

Here is an article about Pia Degermark (who played Elvira) from Jan. 2004:

http://www.nkmr.org/english/pia_degermark_...ther_chance.htm

I haven't been able to find anything about Thommy Breggren (Sixten).

That is a life I wouldn't wish on anybody! Thanks for finding all this great background information about this film, dorthea.

You're more than welcome! The story of Elvira Madigan and Sixten Sparre is a sort of a Danish national tragedy, so there's plenty of information on Danish sites about it.

What I enjoy when I watch the movie, is the way it pictures the Danish nature. It always makes me realize why I don't leave this country in the summer. I would hate to miss a single day...:-)

The winter is another story...:-(

Beautiful , sad , melancholic film !! (one of the staples of the national public channels here , they broadcast it a lot !)

I've got a soft spot for Beautiful Dreamers. I'll have to check it out! Thanks for the info.

O.k., I checked it out at IMDB and the Canne win was for Best Actress. I luuuuuv IMDB...it's a movie buff's dream !

Lordy lordy, I must be growing old! I remember when this came out! It was considered romantic in the extreme! Girls raved about it. I remember Seventeen Magazine (my bible back then) had a fashion layout of gorgeous lace blouses and skirts, shot in the manner of Elvira Madigan...

My cousins, sisters, and I all saw it the summer it came out. It certainly made an imprint. I've never seen a clothesline since where I didn't think, "Oh, that could be fun!" And, of course, Mozart took over my music collection. Elvira Madigan may be one of those movies that is now dated, but it was memorably beautiful musically and visually.