The Juniper Tree (film)

Infobox_Film
name =The Juniper Tree


amg_id =1:211146
imdb_id =0138545
writer =Nietzchka Keene
starring =Björk Guðmundsdóttir
Bryndis Petra Bragadóttir
Guðrún Gísladóttir
Valdimar Örn Flygenring
Geirlaug Sunna Þormar
director =Nietzchka Keene
cinematography =
producer =Nietzchka Keene
distributor = Rhino Home Video
released = USA: 10 April 1990
Iceland: 12 February 1993
runtime = 78 min approx.
language =English
music = Larry Lipkis
cinematography = Randolph Sellars
editing = Nietzchka Keene
country = ISL
USA|

"The Juniper Tree" is a 1990 Icelandic film with a small cast of five actors, Björk, Bryndis Petra Bragadóttir, Guðrún S. Gísladóttir, Valdimar Örn Flygenring and introducing Geirlaug Sunna Þormar. It was written and directed by Nietzchka Keene and based on the fairy tale "The Juniper Tree" collected by the Brothers Grimm.

The film was shot in Iceland with an extraordinary small budget in the summer of 1986, but because of financial problems later on in the editing room it was not released until 1990. Rhino Home Video released the film on VHS in 1995 and on DVD in 2002.

Plot

"The Juniper Tree" is set in Iceland and portrays the story of two sisters, Margit (Björk Guðmundsdóttir) and her elder sister Katla (Bryndis Petra Bragadóttir), who escape their home after their mother (Guðrún S. Gísladóttir) is stoned and burned for witchcraft. They go where no one knows them, and find Jóhann (Valdimar Örn Flygenring), a young widower who has a son called Jónas (Geirlaug Sunna Þormar) . Katla uses magical powers to seduce Jóhann and they start living together. Margit and Jónas become friends. However, Jónas does not accept Katla as his stepmother and tries to convince his father to leave her. Katla's magic power is too strong and even though he knows he should leave her, he can't. Margit's mother appears to her in visions and Jónas' mother appears as a raven and to bring him a magical feather.

Comments review

Labeled as a fairy tale, science-fiction, fantasy, drama or art house film, "The Juniper Tree" was shot in black and white to highlight its dramatic content and as a resource to place the story in the Middle Ages. This film has become famous among Björk's admirers after she gained international renown by the early ninetiesFact|date=June 2007. Despite some critics remarks about the protagonists' performancesFact|date=June 2007, some reviewers consider it is a good film in terms of the screenplay and cinematography.Fact|date=June 2007

Credits

*Director: Nietzchka Keene
*Producer: Nietzchka Keene
*Assistant producer: Allison Powell
*Cinematography: Randolph Sellars
*Film editor: Nietzchka Keene
*Art director: Dominique Polain
*Assistant art director: Ólafur Engilbertsson
*Costume design: Nanna Luisa Zophaniasdóttir
*Sound recording: Patrick Moyroud
*Sound re-recording mix: Jeffrey Perkins
*Sound assistant: Helgi Sverrisson
*Special effects: Dominique Polain
*Special effects (makeup): Élin Sverrisdóttir
*Stunt: rider: Ásta Pálmadóttir
*Gaffer: Robert Field
*Bird trainer: Þorleifur Geirsson
*Still photography: Róbert Guillemette
*Assistant camera: Halldór Gunnarsson
*Production assistant: Nicole Hanset
*Pre-production office: Alix Jackson and Julia Parker
*Folk music collector: Helga Jóhannsdóttir
*Herbal consultant: Helga Mogensen
*Craft consultant: Elizabeth Rowe
*Catering: Solveig Gissel Stáhl
*Nursery consultant: Ásgeir Svanbergsson

DVD's technical data

USA DVD

*Date of release: April 23, 2002
*Distributor: Rhino Home Video
*Region: 1 NTSC
*Subtitles: N/A
*Audio: English
*Sound: Stereo Sound
*Aspect ratio: 1.33:1 of the original film presentation
*Chapter Stops: 12
*DVD packaging: Amaray Keep Case
*Extras: a 15-minute director Interview, about 3 minutes of deleted scenes accompanied by director’s comments, and about 3 minutes of slide show of promotional photographs.

Japanese DVD

*Date of release: February 10, 2001
*Distributor: unknown
*Price: ¥2,940
*Region: 2 NTSC
*Subtitles: Japanese
*Audio: English, Japanese (dubbed)
*Sound: Stereo Sound
*Aspect ratio: 1.33:1 of the original film presentation
*Chapter Stops: 9
*DVD packaging: Amaray Keep Case
*Extras: Original trailer (about 2 minutes) and Japanese trailer (about 1 minute).

External links

*imdb title|0138545|The Juniper Tree
* [http://allmovie.com/cg/avg.dll?p=avg&sql=A211146 Review by Clark Fountain at All Movie Guide]
* [http://www.genreonline.net/Juniper_DVD.html Review by Mark A. Rivera at Genreonline.net]
*English trailer at [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FgCXQFVHNe8 YouTube]
*Japanese trailer at [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZfHllL5KR8E YouTube]