Sweden has its own Cinderella story--the true story of Karin Mansdötter, a soldier's daughter who became the consort of Erik XIV, and later his queen. Erik was a Hamlet-like figure on the Swedish throne: an artistically and intellectually gifted renaissance prince who retaliated for a refusal of marriage by Queen Elizabeth of England by marrying his mistress, Karin, thus unleashing the wrath of the nobility against him.
In his focus on the treatment of women--historically, and by reflection, in contemporary settings--it is not surprising that Swedish director Alf Sjöberg would have been attracted to this story of this woman whose fate was to become a political pawn.
At a recent New York Film Festival revival, Karin Mansdötter was called Sjöberg's most ambitious film, one which pioneered techniques which later became the common property of other filmmakers. “The film is composed of three distinct parts: the prologue, in Gevacolor, is treated à la Brecht like a popular ballad sheet tracing the story of how a little peasant girl first became the mistress and then the Queen of Erik XIV; the central section is made up of scenes from Strindberg's play ‘Erik XIV'; and the epilogue deals with Karin's exile and flight. In its scope and grandeur, its tenderness, magnificent acting, and dynamic narrative style, this is Sjöberg at his best.”
• Directed by Alf Sjöberg. Written by Sjöberg, from the play “Erik XIV” by August Strindberg. Photographed by Sven Nykvist. With Ulla Jacobsson, Jarl Kulle. (1954, 102 mins, 35mm, color, English titles, Print from Swedish Institute and Swedish Information Service)