Elvira Madigan

"Elvira Madigan" (1967) — watch online on iFILM. Swedish director Bo Widerberg's lyrical romance, based on events from the summer of 1889, brought Pia Degermark the Best Actress prize at Cannes.

Sixten Sparre, a Swedish army officer, deserts his post and walks away from his wife and children to follow Elvira Madigan — a celebrated tightrope dancer whose real name was Hedvig Jensen. The two drift across the Swedish countryside, running low on money and options. Widerberg shot everything with a deliberate, almost painful beauty: long meadow sequences in summer light, and the andante from Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 21 playing through it like an open wound — the piece has been called the "Elvira Madigan concerto" ever since. It is a love story that knows exactly where it ends. Stream "Elvira Madigan" (1967) online on iFILM.