Canonical voices and innocent eyes: Defining the cinematographic North

Abstract

In the young Nordic countries, where nature clearly predominates over monuments, the first scripts were sought from among the canonical literary texts of their various languages, on the assumption that literature had already inscribed the social development of the countries concerned. Well into the 20th century, when their cultural identities had been defined, film directors turned to the construction of individual identities, hence choosing children and adolescents as their preferred protagonists. In the last third of the century, aided by the corresponding Film Academies, many women embarked on careers as directors. A number of them are discussed here, together with their most significant films. Particular attention is paid to Mai Zetterling and Liv Ullmann, however, since they were not only fundamental for their own countries, Sweden and Norway respectively, but for the history of cinema in general.