A1 Journal article – refereed
'Four Times Love' and the making of the Nordic welfare state
List of Authors: Laine K
Publisher: INTELLECT LTD
Publication year: 2019
Journal: Journal of Scandinavian Cinema
Journal name in source: JOURNAL OF SCANDINAVIAN CINEMA
Journal acronym: J SCAND CINE
Volume number: 9
Issue number: 2
Number of pages: 17
ISSN: 2042-7891
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1386/jsca.9.2.157_1
Abstract
This article focuses on 'Four Times Love' (Faustman and Jacobsen, 1951), the first feature film produced by companies from four Nordic countries. As a transauthoral omnibus film, credited to two directors and several independently working scriptwriters, 'Four Times Love' has a reputation as an incoherent film. Indeed, the project started with only a relatively vague idea of a Swedish frame story and one protagonist connecting three episodes that take place in Finland, Denmark and Norway. As the script evolved, however, unifying themes central to the Nordic welfare state - concerning, for example, social equality and political neutrality - seem to have gained ground. The aim of this article is to read this film as a manifestation of such complementary ideas and ideals surrounding the then (re-)emerging Nordic welfare state system.
This article focuses on 'Four Times Love' (Faustman and Jacobsen, 1951), the first feature film produced by companies from four Nordic countries. As a transauthoral omnibus film, credited to two directors and several independently working scriptwriters, 'Four Times Love' has a reputation as an incoherent film. Indeed, the project started with only a relatively vague idea of a Swedish frame story and one protagonist connecting three episodes that take place in Finland, Denmark and Norway. As the script evolved, however, unifying themes central to the Nordic welfare state - concerning, for example, social equality and political neutrality - seem to have gained ground. The aim of this article is to read this film as a manifestation of such complementary ideas and ideals surrounding the then (re-)emerging Nordic welfare state system.
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