(EUFF) Film Review #61: HILMA [Opening Film, Screened on 16 & 17 May 2023]
European Film Festival 2023
Film Review #61 [Sweden]: Hilma
*This film review may contain plot spoilers, reader discretion is advised.*
Fresh off their Eurovision win, Sweden presented the opening film for this year’s European Film Festival. In the same way Loreen, the two-time winner of Eurovision crowned again recently in Liverpool, has become a symbol of determination and ingenious talent, so too was Hilma af Klint, the titular protagonist in Sweden’s opening film Hilma.
While many might not be familiar with her name, Af Klint has been credited to be the true pioneer of abstract art, coming ahead of Kandinsky, Mondrian, and Malevich. As an artist and mystic, Af Klint did not get to show her work during her lifetime, and the discovery of her works has forced art historians and critics to re-examine their understanding of abstract art.
The film charts this underknown artist through a series of flashbacks anchored in Af Klint’s attempts to convince loved ones to help fund a temple to display her work in her later years. The flashbacks effectively reveal her early years as a struggling painter who eventually found her spiritual calling in a group of fellow artist-mystics, and is called upon by a higher being to create a higher, more transcendental form of art. While biographical films about artists tend to focus on their loves, lives, and tribulations, the unique perspective focusing on Af Klint’s spirituality and mysticism not only renders ‘Hilma’ a unique film in the assemblage of biopics, but a proof of the unique perspective and story that Af Klint possesses.
Where the film is especially outstanding is in its attempt to convince an audience of the higher power that Af Klint experienced as a mystic, which fuels her artistic creations. Through spellbinding animations and bird-eye’s-view shots that create a literal out-of-body experience, the audience is put into the mind of someone overcome by a transcendental sense of life. Yet, what is so unique about the film’s structure is director Lasse Hallström’s (Chocolat,
The Cider House Rules) choice to only reveal these spiritual moments onscreen long after the tribulations of Af Klint’s life, as if forcing the audience to also adopt a faith in Af Klint the way she adopts a faith towards the spiritual nature of her abstract art empowered and enabled by a higher being.
Ultimately, Af Klint’s argument that her abstract art is representative of a larger metaphysical explanation of our entire universe might not be obvious enough for us to experience it only through the medium and intermediary of cinema’s silver screen as compared to a truer experience of the physical artifacts, but what is nonetheless obvious is the spirit she embodies across the two hours: of rebellion, originality, and disruption. And as is made clear by the European ambassadors’ introduction for the Opening Night, that is precisely the spirit we need in our modern times. While Af Klint’s obscurity in her times might have been a tragedy for the artist amidst her struggles, her miraculous discovery in our times is a comfort to our world as we search for a comforting spirit just like hers to guide our way forward.
About the Author: Daryl is fascinated by stories and currently serves as the Festival Director of the Perspectives Film Festival and a programmer at the Singapore International Film Festival and Short Circuit 7. He is an undergraduate at Nanyang Technological University.
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This review was written as part of a series of reviews by SFS writers for European Film Festival 2023.
For more films and info on EUFF 2023, visit the official website:
https://www.euff.com.sg/
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About European Film Festival 2023:
The European Film Festival (EUFF) is an annual event that showcases a curated selection of European films. The films showcased in this festival may belong to a specific country, but they are all representative of Europe’s shared cultural heritage. EUFF is a window into the intriguing world of European cinema and also offers a platform to young Singaporean film-makers.
For more about
Hilma:
https://www.euff.com.sg/film/sweden/hilma
About the Movie:
GENRE: Drama | Biography
DIRECTOR: Lasse Hallström
CAST: Lena Olin, Tora Hallström, Catherine Chalk, Lily Cole and Tom Wlaschiha
Synopsis:
Hilma, the festival’s opening film, is a stirring drama that explores themes of love, loss and personal growth. It tells the story of the revolutionary Swedish artist and feminist pioneer Hilma af Klint. Well ahead of her time, in the early 1900s, she created evocative abstract paintings. The movie portrays the intense struggles she faced as a female artist trying to find a place for herself and gain recognition in a male-dominated field. The multi-layered and nuanced biopic explores also the spiritual beliefs that influenced her art and her body of work. Directed by Lasse Hallström, starring Tora Hallström, Catherine Chalk and Lily Cole, the film pays tribute to an exceptional artist whose groundbreaking work gained recognition decades after her death.
This review was written as part of a series of reviews by SFS writers for European Film Festival 2023.
For more films and info on EUFF 2023, visit the official website:
https://www.euff.com.sg/
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