Becoming Astrid

After seeing the film Becoming Jane, based on the life of Jane Austen, I more or less expected the same type of film. A film in which is shown how Jane Austen broke her way into writing, despite the social classing system of that period of time.

Becoming Astrid was quite a different take, as it doesn’t show at all how Astrid (then Ericsson) became the author that we know as Astrid Lindgren.
I grew up with some of her stories and it would have been great to see something in the film reflecting on how or at least where she grew her inspirations from. The only thing you see or actually even just hear in the film about her books, are quoted letters that sound like her voice of reason at any time. They aren’t guidances at that moment.
What we see is how Astrid Ericsson comes from a very Christian family, derails from her family because of that. Her father supports her, her mother wants her to behave like a good Christian. Astrid politely declines, sings her own tune.

Then she gets her first job.
Despite the fact that I very much like how this film depicts human emotions and especially the Swedish and Danish ones, it’s not what I was expecting. I do like how the film shows the struggle of a very young mother having to decide not only what’s best for her, but also for her child, her future, and so on. Never in the film is ever shown, however, how she got her first break in writing. Except for the jobs she has, nobody is praising her for any story she has written. Yes, in quotes. You never see her doing any of her writing during it.

It’s a nice film to watch, dramatic at times, but not heavy on the stomach. Just don’t expect any of your heroes from the books to make some kind of appearance. They don’t.