I Am Dina (2002)

Omgosh I LOVED this movie so much. Maria Bonnevie WAS Dina. I'd never seen her before. Now I want to see all ger work. She was AMAZING in this one. Everyone was. I'm ready to watch it again.

A powerful story, made weaker by excessive length and too many characters. Some of the secondary characters could have been eliminated to make the plot flow more smoothly. Having said this, I was tremendously impressed by Maria Bonnevie in the title role. Her face is florid, sensual, expressive of lust, sorrow and all the other emotions in this often violent woman's life. Mads Mikkelson as the grafting, unscrupulous Niels gives the other fine performance; his suicide takes all the life out of the story.Gérard Depardieu and Christopher Eccleston were added to the cast for star power, I suppose, but they don't mix well with the other players. Eccleston's character--Zhukovsky the anarchist--is just a jumble of historical clichés we can't become involved with.

I don't really like to write reviews but I've read the one for this particular movie and I can't let others read it and think the movie is as bad as it is accused of being.First of all I've read the book by Herbjorg Wassmo and there is a reason why the original dialog is "my momma left me",Dina is after all like a child.The film simply emphasizes the same aspects as the book.The acting is not at all bad,Maria Bonnevie is simply great,intense and embodies the exact spirit of the wild gray-eyed flamboyant teen.An 18-year-old woman with eyes as old as stones.If you have the opportunity to watch it I strongly recommend you do because it can change your perception on life.You find yourself asking do the people around me exist or is the world full of insipid people who I should look through? Dina's character is simply magnetic and you can't help not being attracted to her and hating those who get to be around her while you can't.I especially enjoyed the scenes where she plays the cello,seeing her hold it between her thighs,seeing her possess it like she does with everything from her horses to men.And some of the most enjoyable scenes are the ones where Dina is either in the presence of Lorch or Tomas,fascinating characters themselves each addicted to Dina in his own way.I loved this movie and I wouldn't recommend it if I wouldn't know you will too.

Dina is like a beast, she is so natural, instinctive and despite it innocent...like a "first human being" in the history of the world. She does not follow any social norms, she does not care about what she have to do or not...only the nature and her insticts can tell her that. She just sees and feels things. Something what happened in her past changed her and her life forever. And things will never be the same again...For me this film was something amazing, breathtaking and fascinating experience. I watched it like I did not watch film for a long time. What I noticed in comparing my own and my friends opinions on this piece is that you have to FEEL this film, not watch it. If you feel it, you like it! I had not noticed any speaking mistakes because I watched it with czech dubbing - and as usually - great czech dubbing! Maybe it was better than original and maybe Dina will have left more positive feelings in this area:-)I would very much like to read the novel from Herbjorg Wassmo and when I'll have chance to buy it, I will. As far as I know it didn't reach the Central Europe yet - unfortunately.