Swedish history has its true Cinderella story-the story of Karin Mansdotter, the soldier's daughter who became the consort of Erik XIV. The eldest son of the great 16th century Swedish king, Gustav Wasa, Erik XIV was, at once, a highly gifted prince, and a neurotic Hamlet-like figure. Strindberg wrote a play about this monarch, with whom he had much in common, not least a misogynistic attitude toward the opposite sex. After a proposal of marriage is refused by Queen Elizabeth of England, King Erik resolves to make his 17-year-old mistress, Karin, queen. Sjöberg devised a triptych format to chronicle a commoner's rise and fall within the monarchy. The first episode, shot in the washed-out pastels of Gevacolor, recounts the fairy tale of a young farm girl who discovers she is to become the King's mistress. Part Two adheres to Strindberg's dissection of the palace intrigues that follow Karin's ascendancy to the throne. The epilogue deals with Karin's imprisonment and was constructed from letters written by her while in exile. "Sjöberg, as he did with Miss Julie, fills out the story, and imagines what might have happened to Karin after the death of her king," Peter Cowie notes. "Like all Sjöberg's work, Karin Mansdotter deals with the social divisions that societies artificially and arbitrarily impose upon themselves. Erik and Karin reach out to each other across this gulf, and thanks to Jarl Kulle and Ulla Jacobsson their relationship looks tender and authentic." The beautiful castles of Gripsholm, Kalmar and Uppsala gave the young Sven Nykvist, who would later receive acclaim as Bergman's cinematographer, a rich palette for this visually stunning film.