User Reviews

Based on an iconic book which appeared in the early sixties, by Norwegian national treasure Tarjei Vesaas, Per Blom's film shows how the swiftly developing relationship between two recently met pre-adolescent girls, Siss (a local girl) and the more introvert Unn (a newcomer) culminates in their deciding, in Unn's bedroom and at her suggestion, to undress in the spirit of mutual curiosity. Unn wants to know if she looks odd in some way, and confesses she harbours a secret so grave that she may be damned, but Siss cannot discern how Unn is particularly unusual. As time creaks by, the girls become uncomfortable at their own nudity and the scene ends in awkwardness. Then we see Siss quickly running home through the darkness.

The next day, to postpone her own inevitable embarrassment, Siss avoids meeting Unn at school by going off alone to look at a frozen waterfall. She wanders awestruck around the massive icy structure, passing from one great vaulted chamber to the next, but at length gets lost inside and falls victim to the numbing cold. Finally, she dies of hypothermia, her new friend's name on her lips at the end. Search parties seek the lost girl in vain on the snow-covered hills into the darkness, while Unn seems perplexed then struck dumb by the unexplained disappearance of Siss. We see her alone in the school yard and, in a scene of calculated longeur, lying naked in the bath. The fate of Siss, while only an indirect consequence of the episode between the girls, leads to Unn being emotionally isolated in a way that parallels Siss's loneliness on first arriving in the district.

I saw this film on British TV soon after its release in the late eighties, when Blom was being feted internationally. Twenty four years had elapsed since the book's publication and the very unworldliness ('innocence' is perhaps too charged a word) at the centre of the story was already out of step with the cynical knowingness then hardening into political correctness here in the UK. It was a bold decision to show it then outside of art house cinemas, I imagine, and a TV showing today would seem highly unlikely as the key scene, a commonplace in the lives of many children and hardly shocking in itself, would seem unpalatable in today's more censorious climate.

A touching, poignant movie in which subtitles are often superfluous, but with much more to say for itself than this brief synopsis can convey. Well worth a look if you ever get the chance.

It was pretty hard to even get a copy of this movie. The one i was finally able to find was quite low quality although that could just be due to when it was filmed.

This movie is strange.

The soundtrack is excellent at setting the tone of the scenes.

The whole movie seems to be slow. As if it's running in slow motion.

Extended scenes of nothing but emotion and expression. No action, no dialog. Just focusing on their faces and their expressions.

I am fascinated in the use of underage nudity in film, i am intrigued in the way it was barely considered an issue a few years ago and now it's percieved so incredibly negatively. This film really seems to consider it merely a part of life.

Yes there is a scene where the two main characters are implied to be nude together. I say implied, Siss does indeed appear nude on screen. Unn appears but is only shown topless. It is however implied that they are both naked in the scene To me however there is nothing explicit or inapropreate as such. Simply two people without clothes on.

The only other scene i recall is the main character in the bath. Again bathing is a regular occurance i fail to see why it is considered so taboo.

Again nothing inapropreate or explicit really is in the movie.

With that out of the way. The story in this movie is obscure to say the least. I wish there was more to it.

There are many questions left unanswered.

In my opinion the name leads this film to seem like a childhood fantasy, like a disney princess in a beautiful castle made from ice. Yes comparisons could be drawn to Disney's Frozen.

However this is very far from the case. Do not go in to this movie expecting a happy colorful disney movie.

Very few movies genuinely make me "feel" but this one did. It really got to me in fact.

A brilliant movie that simply doesn't last long enough.

There are many things that i feel were left answered and i'm not sure if i'm glad or annoyed by that.

I can't recommend this movie. As much as i loved it, i feel it's somewhat niche and it won't resonate with most people.

However i do think it's an excellent example of underage nudity in film being used simply as a matter of course. Perfect case study to me on how nudity is not and should not be considered such a taboo.

This film don't look like anything else. It is very slow moving, almost boring, and most of the pictures are close-ups of not very expressive faces. It's set in a very cold and very remote Norwegian mountain area in the thirties - not the most amusing place in the world. But very decent indeed. And then something starts sparkling. The two 12 year old girls meets a frosty evening, it is the first time that the kind and completely ordinary Siss visits the outsider Unn, who lives alone with her aunt. Unn shows to be an outsider indeed, having her room decorated by posters of pin-up girls , and soon suggest, that they take off their clothes. After doing that, Unn cries and admits, that she will not be let into Heaven, when she dies.

Siss promise to keep Unns special feelings a secret. The very next day Unn dies in the big ice palace (a frozen waterfall in the nearby river)- nobody knows, if it was an accident or suicide, but Siss is left with feelings of guilt. What she really thinks, and what other people think, is not quite obvious. But this strange film is fascinating in its own odd way. There is some nudity and scary scenes, but that won't offend any minors, because they would be bored away long before it starts.