Hilma

Hilma

Hilma, Lasse Hâllstrom, Lena Olin, swedish painter
Viaplay

VERDICT: Lasse Hallström’s beautifully crafted biopic brings to life an almost unknown Swedish painter who was an avant gardiste, spiritualist and theosophist.

There are few things in cinema more rewarding for audiences than a discovery. Encountering an artist on the screen who was previously unknown to us is the key to success for films like Searching for Sugar Man (Malik Bendjelloul, 2012) about a forgotten African musician. This kind of curiosity could be essential for the distribution and eventual success of Hilma, directed by Lasse Hallström in his return as Sweden’s prodigal son. After becoming known internationally with his third feature My Life as a Dog (1985), he launched a prolific career in U.S. and Great Britain directing in English, with awards and recognition mainly for his actors (he is credited with discovering Leonardo Di Caprio, no less!) Perhaps ironically, Hallström wanted to film Hilma in Swedish, but could not find enough funding.

The first scene introduces us to the elderly Hilma (Lena Olin) , who is rejected and called a “witch” by her own brother. We are left with little hope for this woman, who has a carefully diagrammed project tucked away in her purse. But as soon as she is on the street and gets on a tram, her face softens as she recollects. Those recollections are the narrative of the film, pieced together with a lot of love and admiration. Hallström makes us admire not only Hilma as a marginalized artist, but also for the woman who attended the Academy of Fine Arts, even if it meant using the rear entrance designated for women; and for the activist who risked having a female lover and forming an all-woman creative group that mixed art with mystic beliefs.

Hilma af Klint was a painter – from a noble but not rich Swedish family – who won a certain amount of recognition while she was alive, but only attained fame with a major exhibition in New York twenty years after her death in 1944. The timing of the show was done according to her instructions, since she believed the spirits – friendly souls– guided her hand and in the future her paintings would be understood. She was a vanguard artist who could have revolutionized the art of her time. Some five years before Kandinsky presented his first exhibition of nonfigurative paintings, Hilma already had a collection of abstract geometrical paintings reserved for “a temple”. But at that time women were supposed to paint only landscapes and Hilma was an outsider for her family as well as for the art establishment; she was even rejected by the philosopher Rudolph Steiner (Tom Wlaschiha), who she worshiped for his occultist beliefs.

In any biographical film, the most important choice is what the point of view will be. Either keep the subject’s political and religious point of view, or try to have a more objective one. Hallström who wrote the script as well as directed Hilma, not only respects the painter’s beliefs but justifies her decisions based on them. The result is bittersweet. When Hilma’s biography, her vision and energy are finally made public, the force behind her paintings is explained as being transmitted by the spirits. Hilma, in the final years took responsibility of her art, even allowed an exhibition in London. but oddly that is not part of the film.

Hallström tries to avoid bellicose conflicts, which is probably why the two world wars occurring within Hilma’s time frame are never mentioned in the film and they don’t seem to affect the protagonist at all.  The peaceful passage of time is seen, quite creatively, with small cuts between street scenes of recreated old films, where people walk with the characteristic jitter of early cinema.

The film eventually circles back, and repeats the first scene – which is odd –  letting us know that the narrative’s cycle is complete. Hallström has made not only a circular narrative but also a solidly rounded film. With his daughter Tora Hallström as the young Hilma and his wife Lena Olin as the older one, it’s clear that this is not just any movie for him, and that he took great care in every aspect. The beautiful photography by Ragna Jorming uses camera movements that resemble the geometric figures in the paintings, and with great impetus even in rural scenes.

Tora Hallström, with her luminous yet down-to-earth presence, is the perfect fit for the magnetic and contradictory artist. And Lena Olin, in just a few lines of dialogue, gives us the angry, middle-aged woman and later the sad but resolute Hilma of her latter days. Both their interactions with the other women in the film are filled with caring companionship, leaving us craving a future film centered around the “Group of Five” women artist who held séances, painted together, had a studio and later a lived a communal life on an island in order to have a space for their creations. All this, a century ago.

Director, screenwriter: Lasse Hallström
Cast: Lena Olin, Tora Hallström, Catherine Chalk, Jazzy de Lisser, Lily Cole, Rebecca Calder, Maeve Dermody, Anna Björk, Martin Wallström, Tom Wlaschiha, Emmi Tjernström, Jens Hultén, Adam Lundgren, Paulius Markevicius, Justinas Jankevicius
Producers: Helena Danielsson, Lasse Hallström, Sigurjón Sighvatsson

Cinematography: Ragna Jorming
Editing: Dino Jonsäter
Music: Jon Ekstrand
Production company: Viaplay Studios
Distributor: Juno Films
Venue: Palm Springs International Film Festival (Awards Buzz)
In English
114 minutes