David Reviews Bo Widerberg’s New Swedish Cinema [Criterion Collection Blu-Ray Review]

Last week The Criterion Collection released Bo Widerberg’s New Swedish Cinema, a Blu-ray box-set that marks another expansion of their offerings of great films from the Scandinavian film culture. It’s a nice follow-up to Three Films by Mai Zetterling, their 2022 release, with both sets serving notice that there are other excellent Swedish directors out there not named Ingmar Bergman (or even Jan Troell, even though the latter does make a small but significant contribution to the new set.) Here’s how Criterion sums up the package:

Driven by a desire to forge a socially conscious Swedish cinema—one that broke with the inward-looking psychodrama of Ingmar Bergman to give dynamic expression to the everyday experiences of working-class Swedes—writer Bo Widerberg turned to filmmaking in the early 1960s, realizing his ambition in politically committed yet poetic works that merge social-realist themes with a refined, often breathtakingly beautiful visual sensibility. Dramatizing the struggles of ordinary people fighting to chart their own destiny, these four acclaimed, popular, and pivotal films from Widerberg’s most prolific period live and breathe with a rare vitality—and helped launch a new Swedish cinema.

In early August, I received a preview copy of the set and proceeded to work my way through its contents. Along the way, I created a series of short video clips on my TikTok account, which I’ve assembled here to serve as my review. Here’s my take on what the collection has to offer!

First Arrival

@dee.ell.bee first look at BO WIDERBERG’S NEW SWEDISH CINEMA, upcoming #bluray #boxset release from the #criterioncollection #bowiderberg #swedishcinema #elviramadigan ♬ original sound – David Blakeslee

Opening Thoughts

@dee.ell.bee opening thoughts on BO WIDERBERG’S NEW SWEDISH CINEMA coming soon from #criterioncollection #swedishcinema #bowiderberg #bluray #boxset ♬ Vivaldi “Four Seasons” “Spring” – harryfaoki

The Baby Carriage

@dee.ell.bee thoughts about THE BABY CARRIAGE, the first film in BO WIDERBERG’S NEW SWEDISH CINEMA box set from #criterioncollection #bowiderberg ♬ original sound – David Blakeslee

Raven’s End

@dee.ell.bee a look at RAVEN’S END, the 2nd film in #BoWiderberg‘s New Swedish Cinema #boxset from #criterioncollection ♬ original sound – David Blakeslee

Elvira Madigan

@dee.ell.bee 9 minutes of my thoughts about #ElviraMadigan from the new #criterioncollection #boxset of #BoWiderberg‘s New #SwedishCinema #doomedromance ♬ original sound – David Blakeslee

Ådalen 31

@dee.ell.bee my 7 minute review of ÅDALEN 31, the 4th and final film in the #BoWiderberg #NewSwedishCinema set just released today by the #criterioncollection ♬ original sound – David Blakeslee

When Criterion first announced this set back in May, it immediately piqued my interest, as I’ve had a consistently positive experience following their lead to get introduced to other peers of Ingmar Bergman who were creating great film art during his peak years in the 1960s and early 70s. I have to acknowledge though that my response to this set wasn’t quite as rapturous as the feelings generated by the Mai Zetterling collection last year, or Jan Troell’s masterful saga The Emigrants/The New Land when those two films were released by Criterion back in 2016. But hey, they can’t all be mountaintop experiences! What I took away from this quartet was an enhanced appreciation for Widerberg’s goal of injecting a tone of working class grit and contention into the broader popular reputation of Swedish cinema, both for his contemporary viewers and for the sake of posterity. The director placed his camera and narratives in situations that gave him a distinctive voice and created a legacy that receives a well-deserved tribute in this compilation of his most important early films. Likewise, the supplements round out our impression of an intelligent, perceptive filmmaker who articulated the hard dilemmas of ordinary people striving to balance the pursuit of their personal dreams and ambitions while wrestling to varying degrees of success or failure in fulfilling their commitments and obligations imposed on them by others. At the time of this writing, all the films and supplements are available to watch on the Criterion Channel, so it’s relatively easy to sample the material prior to purchase if one is so inclined.