Raven's End Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		4.0

Raven's End Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman February 27, 2024

Note: This film is available on Blu-ray as part of the Bo Widerberg's New Swedish Cinema collection from Criterion.

Any conversation about Swedish film in the sixties is bound to be dominated by the titanic figure of Ingmar Bergman, but there were other Swedish filmmakers working during that decade, of course, and as is alluded to on the back cover of Criterion's four disc collection of films by Bo Widerberg as well as some on disc supplements included in the set, there was an undeniable bit of a "Bergman backlash" at work in some of Widerberg's offerings in particular. Widerberg will probably be best remembered by Western audiences for 1967's Elvira Madigan, a film which escaped the confines of neighborhood "art houses" to become a worldwide cinema phenomenon, one which, among other achievements, managed to get a theme by some guy named Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart or something like that significant radio airplay (including making the Top 40 on Billboard's so-called "Easy Listening" charts), courtesy of its haunting use of part of a "Wolfie" piano concerto as a leitmotif. While some cineastes may want to quibble with the back cover's further assertion that the fact that Widerberg's films merge "social realist themes" that focus on "the struggles of ordinary people" somehow sets him apart from Bergman, those same cineastes may find that very description of Widerberg's oeuvre a questionable thesis in and of itself to begin with (for example, was Elvira Madigan, a 19th century circus tightrope performer, an "ordinary person"?). All of this said, Widerberg's films are nonetheless markedly different in both tone and presentational aspects from Bergman's monolithic work, and the four films aggregated in this collection are all fascinating viewing experiences in their own ways.

It's kind of hilarious in a way when a television pundit calls Raven's End a "heartwarming Christmas story" in a brief supplement included on this disc. Sure, "heartwarming" if by that term is meant a family roiling in dysfunction, infidelity, alcohol abuse and, just for good measure, yet another unplanned pregnancy a la Widerberg's first feature The Baby Carriage, all within the context of a nascent Nazi party whose impact is being felt as far away as Sweden in 1936. If different people's "heartwarming mileage" may therefore understandably vary, Raven's End still is a riveting document of a family in general and son and would be writer Anders (Thommy Berggren) in particular.

It's also maybe slightly hilarious when Widerberg in that same interview with the television pundit decries (then) contemporary Swedish cinema for focusing on "lightweight", seemingly comically oriented, films about the upper class. One might assume this is some kind of backhanded swipe at Widerberg's perceived nemesis Ingmar Bergman, until you realize that in 1963, the year of this film's release, Bergman brought out those certified "laff riots" Winter Light and The Silence.

Anders' family is supposedly "headed" by his father (Keve Hjelm), but "dear old Dad" is something of a wastrel, drinking and gambling too much and unable to hold down any kind of solid employment. Mother (Emy Storm) makes do as she can, helping with laundry and cleaning for neighbors, but Anders obviously wants to escape somehow. Things become more fraught when his manuscript does not get a publishing offer and when his girlfriend Elsie (Christina Frambäck) becomes pregnant. Some relatively late third act histrionics attempt to provide some context for the marital discord between Anders' parents, but the film perhaps unwisely attempts to traffic once again in some of the same general plot mechanics of The Baby Carriage, where an unexpected parent finds power by going it alone. Unfortunately in this particular instance, that individual is the male of the couple, and some may find it kind of unseemly that Anders basically leaves Elsie in the lurch.

Raven's End Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Raven's End is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of the Criterion Collection with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.38:1. Criterion's insert booklet has the following information on the master:

Raven's End is presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.37:1. This new digital master was created in 4K resolution from the 35 mm original cmaera negative and a duplicate negative. The original monaural soundtrack was remastered from the 35 mm optical track negative.

Furthermore, this is one of two films in Criterion's Widerberg set that offers a prefatory text card further indicating the scan and restoration were done in 2018. This is another really stunning looking presentation, with Jan Lindeström evocative black and white cinematography reproduced with nicely consistent contrast and some appealingly modulated gray scale. Widerberg really opts for a lot of quite wide framings in some outdoor material, perhaps to emphasize a kind of "prison yard" ambience, and understandably in those moments fine detail levels can ebb and flow. But a lot of the interior material features midrange and close-up framings, and detail levels are typically excellent throughout all of that material. There are occasional slight variations in clarity which may be attributable to the difference in original and dupe negatives. There's no real damage of any import and grain resolves naturally throughout.

Raven's End Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Raven's End features an LPCM Mono track in the original Swedish. This is another Widerberg effort which may not have an overly baroque sound design, even if somewhat ironically the track features Giuseppi Torelli's Concerto for Trumpet and Strings in D, which can actually sound just a bit painfully brash and bright in the highest frequencies (it sounds like the performance features period appropriate instruments, and so the "baroque trumpet" is rather "punchy" up high). Otherwise, though, this track provides more than capable support for what is often a rather intimate dialogue driven piece where typically two characters are talking in close confines. Some of the outdoor material can offer subtle ambient environmental sounds. All dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout. Optional English subtitles are available.

Raven's End Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Tommy Berggren (HD; 18:26) is a sweet 2021 interview with the frequent Widerberg collaborator. Subtitled in English.


• Bo and Nina Widerberg (HD; 6:59) is from 1963 and features Widerberg holding a fussy three year old Nina while discussing Raven's End. Nina calmly informs the interviewer that she's already a movie star when the guy asks her if she'll be a movie star when she grow up. Subtitled in English.

Raven's End Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Raven's End along with Ådalen 31 serves as probably the best example of Widerberg's "social realist" proclivities, though this is really more of a deconstruction of a family buffeted by socioeconomic winds than it is a takedown of an entire societal approach, which is arguably more the purview of Ådalen 31. I'm not sure the "you're going to make it after all" aspect of the denouement resonates as strongly with a male character as it does with the young woman at the heart of The Baby Carriage, but this is still an often viscerally involving film. Technical merits are solid, and the supplements very enjoyable. Recommended.