The Verde Valley Sinfonietta and the Sedona International Film Festival will present an encore of the classic film “Elvira Madigan” on Saturday, Feb. 7 at 4 pm at the Mary D. Fisher Theater.
“Elvira Madigan”, released in 1967, is still regarded as one of the most beautiful films ever produced. Based on a glorious yet heart wrenchingly tragic true story, this Swedish film has almost no dialogue. Instead, the story unfolds through incredible cinematography and an even more incredible soundtrack based mainly on Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 21, which will be featured prominently in Verde Valley Sinfonietta’s February 15th concert (featuring piano soloist Rita Borden).
“Elvira Madigan” was nominated for two Golden Globe Awards, including Best Foreign Language Film.
Hedvig Jensen is a famous ropewalker and is known to her public as Elvira Madigan. She meets Lieutenant Sixten Sparre, a Swedish officer who is married and has two children. They both decide to run away, but since Sixten deserted the army, he cannot find any job and the couple encounters many hardships. Moreover, while on the run, Sixten meets a friend who tries to convince him to come back to his country and family.
" ‘Elvira Madigan’ is indeed remarkably beautiful,” raved the late Roger Ebert. “Almost every frame would make a painting, and yet the film is alive and cinematic, not simply photographs of pretty pictures.”