Death Is a Caress

Death is a Caress
Directed byEdith Carlmar
Written byOtto Carlmar
Arve Moen (novel)
StarringClaus Wiese
Bjørg Riiser-Larsen
Ingolf Rogde
Brita Bigum
Release date
  • 1949 (1949)
Running time
92 minutes
CountryNorway
LanguageNorwegian

Death is a Caress (Norwegian: Døden er et kjærtegn) is a 1949 Norwegian film noir starring Claus Wiese, Bjørg Riiser-Larsen and Ingolf Rogde. Based on a 1948 novel by Arve Moen, it was Edith Carlmar's directorial début, and the first Norwegian film directed by a woman.[1]

The film depicts the passionate and tempestuous liaison between mechanic Erik (Wiese) and society woman Sonja (Riiser-Larsen). The film uses cinematic shorthand to convey time and place, while concentrating on its protagonists' increasingly troubled relationship.[2]

References

  1. ^ Smith, Imogen Sara (1 September 2015). "The Female Gaze: 100 Overlooked Films Directed by Women". Sight & Sound. BFI.
  2. ^ "Death is a Caress (Døden er et kjærtegn)". Oslo: Norsk filminstitutt. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved September 7, 2011. Few films have ever more effectively conveyed a kind of male-hysteria, as Erik comes to regard his wife increasingly as an enigma whom he can't control or understand.