I Am Dina (1999)

Rated:

Genre: Drama

Release Date: 8 March 2002 (Norway)

Runtime: 122 min

Director: Ole Bornedal

Cast: Maria Bonnevie, Gérard Depardieu, Christopher Eccleston, Pernilla August, Bjørn Floberg, Hans Matheson, Amanda Jean Kvakland, Jørgen Langhelle, Mads Mikkelsen, Søren Sætter-Lassen

In Northern Norway during the 1860s, a little girl named Dina (Amanda Jean Kvakland) accidentally causes her mother’s death. Overcome with grief, her father (Bjørn Floberg) refuses to raise her, leaving her in the care of the household servants. Family friend Jacob (Gérard Depardieu) encourages Dina’s father to hire Lorch (Søren Sætter-Lassen) a tutor who introduces her to the cello. Dina (Maria Bonnevie) grows up wild and unmanageable, her father sends away Lorch and she is left with her only friend being the stable boy, Tomas (Hans Matheson). She summons her mother’s ghost and develops a strange fascination with death as well as a passion for living. When Dina is old enough, she marries Jacob and moves to Reinsnes, a port he runs with his mother, Karen, and his stepsons Niels (Mads Mikkelsen) and Anders (Jørgen Langhelle). Niels doesn’t like Dina’s wild ways, or the fact that she has taken over accounting duties at Reinsnes. Dina’s eccentric tendencies become even stronger, eventually leading Jacob into an accident of his own and bringing Tomas back into her life.

The tale drew me in from beginning to end. From the opening seen of the little girl in her room on a stormy night right to the very end where she shoots the man she loves. It baffled me how close to home the story was. Dina has difficulties dealing with the departure of people she loves, and in order for her to deal with it she feels the best way to avoid being left is to kill them so that they can remain with her, carefree and peaceful. This is not to say that I imagine killing people to keep them with me, but the fact is it is hard to see people leave us and for someone to come up with this “different” solution made this movie all that more intriguing. This Vanguard film is defiantly a hit. Granted the movie is over 2 hours long, I can assure you time flies while watching this movie.