Appassionata

Thomas, a famous concert pianist, is set free after having served a prison sentence. He is met by Erik, an admirer, who convin-ces Thomas to accept him as a student. Thomas says to Erik that without disappointments one cannot grow as a human being - still less as an artist. He himself has suffered and through flashbacks he tells
Erik about his great love, his wife Maria, who is portrayed by Viveca Lindfors. Now Maria wants a divorce, on account of Erik.

Comment:
Appassionata ... Olof Molander directing .. The one and only great director I have ever worked with ... He directed me also on stage in Gentle People by Irwing Shaw ... A mind· blowing mind he had ... Superb Strindberg productions he did ... One mind feeds the other ... That's what's great about our profession ... we are constantly experiencing stimulating thoughts and ideas ... If we mingle with kings.
The film, a wonderful story ... A love
story! That's what we did in those days ...
divine and the music ... and then again
Rydeberg ... I laugh ... again fiction and reality mingled ... I playa young woman falling in love with a great pianist twice my age .. Another film that could be remade ... Adding the knowledge we have today of wanting to marry daddy ... Wanting to be taken care
of ... and - my own need - to fall in love with geniuses ... Avoiding to take responsibilty for one's own talent... It's all the same of course ... In the film she never does ... She
falls in love again ... This time with a man her own age ... Her own experiences ... well here I was ... still in love with Rydeberg ... never daring to express it. .. Barely to feel it... Except for on the screen ... ''I love you'',
he said He was a brilliant actor ... So he
meant it ''How much'' I dare not ask
him ... Instead I did take great care of me ... an actress needs that. ..
Filming on DjurgfHden, in the most divine studio, small, friendly, simple ... Nature all around us ... Close to home, could bicycle to work at six in the morning ... My baby was brought in for his meals and nobody minded ... Life was good ... And I was the star of Swedish film now ... Maybe the biggest star they ever had ... I was lucky ... the timing was right... the isolation through the war forced us to develop our own films .. our own stars ... Appassionata was the best script I had ever been a part of ... another opportunity ... Yes, so many of them ... I was lucky ... Did I know it? I think I did ... It might have scared me, I was not sure I deserved it or was ready for it... Of course 1 wasn't.. You need to be young to be successful in film ... but then you don't... can't yet know your craft ... it is the danger..
Viveca Lindfors

Medverkande
Viveca Lindfors, Georg Rydeberg, Alf Kjellin: Manus
George Martens, Olof Molander: Foto
Karl-Erik Albert: Musik
Jules Sylvain, Ludwig van Beerhoven, Frederic Chopin, Franz Schubert, Johann Strauss cl.y. Franz Lis: Talat språk
Swedish