[.ca] Juniper Tree (Full Screen)

BJORK CAN ACT IN SPOOKY TALE:
Bjork, Iceland's eccentric and eclectic artist, singer and actress stars in "THE JUNIPER TREE." Shot in black and white on bleak locations in Iceland, the story is an old folk tale adapted from the Brothers Grimm archives. And grim it is. Bjork is Margit. When her mother is burned at the stake for practicing witchcraft, she and her older sister Katla flee across Iceland's rugged terrain until they reach the remote farmhouse owned by handsome widower Johann. Katla casts a seductive spell on Johann and bewitches him. Soon they are wed, much to the dismay of Johann's suspicious young son Jonas who sees clearly what has happened to his dad. Things get increasingly tense and Margit is forced into the spiritual world to save Jonas from Katla's supernatural wrath. This dark, brooding mystical tale is nicely visualized and Bjork is a natural actress. And yes, she sings. Extras include an interview with director Nietzchka Keene, deleted scenes and publicity photos.

Certainly not easy-veiwing... but strangely rewarding!:
Having been a huge Bjork fan for about 7 years, about five of those years have been spent hunting for a copy of 'The Juniper Tree' in the UK...However, after a dear friend bought me the DVD edition (with suprisingly wonderful extra features on the disc!) for my birthday, I've finally got to see what all the fuss is about! I practically own Bjork's entire back catalogue, and worship 'Dancer In The Dark', but I promised my self that when I watched 'The Juniper Tree' for the first time, I'd try to do so with an open mind, and try not to be biased. Although the movie is a challenge to watch... I was not dissapointed. This dark tale see's Margit (Bjork) and her sister Katla trying to rebuild their lives after their mother is burnt at the stake for practising witchcraft. So the sisters don't get the same fate, they flee across Iceland where Katla discovers a young widower and his son living alone. Through the use of Katla's withcraft, she is soon Married to the young widower, much to the dissaproval of his young son. The rest of the movie focusses of Margit as she try's to come to terms with her own Growing magical powers, and try's her hardest to use them to protect the young boy from Katla's influence. I'll admit that there are times when the film is difficult to watch, and frequently takes itself on little tangents elsewhere and there even some quite disturbing and graphic scenes; but the performances are very powerful & thought-provoking and if you do manage to sit through the entire film you do end up feeling like you've accomplished something and feel strangely rewarded. Although filmed in 1987, the black & white photography and numerous beautiful shots of Iceland's legendary landscape, make you feel this was shot in the 1940's. Although the directory has manged to successfully capture the medi-evil pagan era of the movie very well. And the question on everyones lips... How well does Bjork do in the film? Her acting ability is remarkable considering this is her debut venture into a field of media she knew nothing about. And it is Bjork's portrayal of the niave young girl coming to terms with the death of her mother and her own inner witchcraft that holds the film together, and in the final scene as Margit reveals what Katla has done... you can't but feel strangely moved. Although Bjork herself doesnt think off this as her first film cuz she had "Just had a kid, and didn't really know what she was doing!", she should really give herslef more credit for this, as it's a remarkable debut... totally uncomparable to her prtrayal as Selma in 'Dancer In The Dark', But 'The Juniper Tree' is almost as rewarding. I do highly recommend this film. If you have the disciplne to sit still and really concentrate... You'll be touched!

Very odd and often disturbing:
I was very excited when I received this one in the mail. Having been a long-time and old school Bjork and Sugarcubes fan, I couldn't wait to see Bjork's movie debut. Her performance was not in question, but the script and direction were my main problems with it. First of all, I would've preferred Icelandic with English subtitles. It was all in English. The mood was dark and odd, which really was enhanced by the film being in black and white. Far too much information was left up to the viewer to decide on. Most of the action was talked about in past tense in bad voiceovers while showing barren landscapes. The plot suffered due to the director trying to be too artsty. So constantly, I had to keep adding in scenes in my head that were never there. Ugh! The movie had a cold realism and a grim fairy tale type ending. It was not horrible, but my copy of this immeadiately was listed on ebay after I watched it.

Poor Quality dvd of a badly directed mess:
Where to start.... I give this film credit for the fact that it is a tiny budget independent film and therefore should be viewed as one. As a film maker myself being a small film does not excuse bad cinematography, scripting, sound design, direction and production. The performances are quite strong particularly bjork's and lets face it nobody would watch this film had she not appeared in it. The thing that made this messy film even worse was the special features on the dvd! Sometimes they are better left off the disk, trust me. The interview with the writer/director is cringe worthy at the very least and the so called deleted scenes, well who cares! Seriously there is a shot of a bird with the directors voice over saying "It was a bird from a zoo". Big deal, it's just sitting in a tree that shot was achievable anywhere at any time. When questioned as to what this film is about this director has no idea about her own subject matter, it just sounds like she wanted to go to iceland. As far as researching this project for almost a full year, well it sounds like a pretensious university lecturer living off grants. Unfortunately this woman is what keeps independent film makers down and had that money been given to someone competant a great film could have been made. basically this is a shocker but the actors are great.

Honestly...:
...Now, I've the utmost respect for Bjork's music and acting skills. Granted, she is decent enough in this. But this film would never have been released in the USA if she wasn't in it. ...