Becoming Astrid

Becoming Astrid (Swedish: Unga Astrid, Danish: Unge Astrid) is a 2018 biographical drama film about the early life of Swedish author Astrid Lindgren. An international co-production between Sweden and Denmark, the film is directed by Pernille Fischer Christensen, from a screenplay co-written by Christensen and Kim Fupz Aakeson, and stars Alba August and Maria Fahl Vikander as young and elder incarnations of Lindgren, alongside Maria Bonnevie, Magnus Krepper, Trine Dyrholm, Henrik Rafaelsen and Björn Gustafsson.

Becoming Astrid
Theatrical release poster
Directed byPernille Fischer Christensen
Screenplay by
Produced by
  • Lars G Lindström
  • Anna Anthony
  • Maria Dahlin (film producer)
Starring
CinematographyErik Molberg Hansen
Edited by
  • Kasper Leick
  • Åsa Mossberg
Music byNicklas Schmidt
Production
companies
Distributed by
  • Nordisk Film (Sweden)
  • DCM Film Distribution (Germany)
Release date
  • 14 September 2018 (2018-09-14) (Sweden)
Running time
123 minutes
Countries
  • Sweden
  • Denmark
Languages
  • Swedish
  • Danish
Box office$885,740[1]

The film premiered at the 68th Berlin International Film Festival on 21 February 2018, and was theatrically released in Sweden on 14 September 2018, as well as in Denmark on 31 January 2019.

Plot

Children from all over the world write letters to Astrid Lindgren (Maria Fahl Vikander), which makes her dream back to her youth in Småland.[2] When she (Alba August) worked at Vimmerby tidning, she falls in love with the chief editor, Reinhold Blomberg (Henrik Rafaelsen),[2] who is 30 years her senior. She becomes pregnant with a son, Lars. As an unwed mother, she chooses to give birth to her son in Copenhagen, where she did not have to disclose the father's name.[3]

Her son spent his first years in a Danish foster family.[2] At the Royal Automobile Club, Astrid met Sture Lindgren (Björn Gustafsson), who later came to be her husband.[2]

Cast

Production

Principal photography took place at Marquardt Palace in Potsdam, Brandenburg, Germany as well as in Västra Götaland in Sweden.

Release
Pernille Fischer Christensen and Alba August at the 2018 Berlin International Film Festival.

Following its premiere at the 68th Berlin International Film Festival, Becoming Astrid was screened at the Chicago International Film Festival, where its North American distribution rights were purchased by Music Box Films. The film received a limited theatrical release on 23 November 2018.

Critical response

The film received critical acclaim. On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, it holds an approval rating of 96% based on 28 reviews, with an average rating of 7.1/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Becoming Astrid pays tribute to a beloved character's creator with a biopic that proves the story behind the scenes is just as timelessly engaging."[5] On Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating to reviews, it has a weighted average score of 71 out of 100, based on 8 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[6]

Accolades
Award Date of ceremony Category Recipient(s) Result Ref(s)
Guldbagge Awards 28 January 2019 Best Film Lars G Lindström, Maria Dahlin and Anna Anthony (producers) Nominated [7][8]
Best Actress Alba August Nominated
Best Supporting Actor Henrik Rafaelsen Nominated
Best Supporting Actress Maria Bonnevie Nominated
Best Costume Design Cilla Rörby Nominated
Art Direction Linda Janson Nominated

Response from loved ones

Karin Nyman, Astrid and Sture's daughter, has criticized the film about her mother, stating that Astrid would have felt enormous reluctance for such a film, and that the period in her life, the relationship with Reinhold Blomberg, the son's birth, and foster home stay, was something private, which she did not want to focus on.[3] Nyman drew comparisons to other biopics, about Winston Churchill (Darkest Hour) or Björn Borg (Borg vs McEnroe), where one focused on what they accomplished in life, rather than a few years of the person's most intimate private life.[3]

References
  1. "Becoming Astrid (2018)". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved 18 July 2019.
  2. Peterson, Jens (21 February 2018). ""Unga Astrid" – en gripande film om Astrid Lindgren". Aftonbladet (in Swedish). Retrieved 11 January 2019.
  3. Jofs, Stina. ""Astrid hade sagt nej, ett absolut och rungande nej."". Vi (in Swedish). Retrieved 11 January 2019.
  4. Michael O'Sullivan (27 November 2018). "This film about Pippi Longstocking's creator is a feminist coming-of-age tale". The Washington Post.
  5. "Becoming Astrid (2018)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango. Retrieved 10 October 2021.
  6. "Becoming Astrid Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved 18 July 2019.
  7. "De är nominerade till Guldbaggen 2019". Aftonbladet (in Swedish). 3 January 2019. Retrieved 10 January 2019.
  8. "Guldbaggevinnarna 2019" (in Swedish). 28 January 2019. Retrieved 16 February 2019.
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