The Great Adventure (Det stora äventyret)

Cited by many as the most "personal" effort of Swedish filmmaker Arne Sucksdorff, The Great Adventure is also one of his few films to tie together its magnificent images with a dramatic narrative. "Adventure" means "life" to Sucksdorff, and that life is experienced by a group of Swedish farm children, two of whom are played by the director's own sons. The kids save a wild otter from a hunter, then attempt to tame the animal. When spring comes, the children realize without remorse that the otter will be happier roaming free in the wilderness. That is all there is to The Great Adventure (Det stora aventyret), but it was so gorgeously photographed and sublimely assembled that it earned the "superior technique" award at the 1954 Cannes Film Festival. SCREENED/AWARDED AT: BAFTA Awards, Berlin International Film Festival, Cannes Film Festival.