Hilma – Movie Review
Director: Lasse Hallstrom
Writer: Lasse Hallstrom (Screenplay)
Cast
- Lena Olin (Enemies: A Love Story)
- Tom Wlaschiha (Game of Thrones)
- Lily Cole (Snow White and the Huntsman)
- Maeve Dermody (Black Water)
- Tora Hallstrom (Hachi A Dog’s Tale)
Plot: Exploring Hilma Af Klint’s enigmatic life, now recognized as one of the Western world’s first abstract artists.
Runtime: 1 Hour 59 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Story: Hilma starts as an older Hilma (Olin) starts looking back on her life. This takes us back to her young life when Hilma (Hallstrom) started getting a taste for painting. Hilma must deal with the early sexist opinion on women being artists, where she finds herself rebelling in class to create her own visions.
We follow Hilma’s career, as despite going against the traditions, she made a major impact in the artistic world. Hilma has an amazing career that is filled with the ups of success and downs of rejection of chasing her dream.
Verdict on Hilma
Characters
Hilma is an artist who lived a very different life from many people. She went through the trauma of losing a younger sister as a child. While living her life against the system in her determination to become an artist. We follow most of her life as she overcame obstacles along the way, creating a new style many hadn’t seen before. Her journey is fascinating, as her belief to create her work, would go against everything people would have normally accepted.
The film puts most of the focus on Hilma, while we do meet the rest of the group known as ‘The Five’ a female group of artists that challenged the normal.
Performances
The performances from Lena Olin and Tora Hallstrom as the two different ages of Hilma are great. They bring the struggles to life through the different generations, as we see what they did to overcome them. The supporting cast in the movie are strong too, with everyone giving the leads the chance to shine.
Story
The story follows the life of artist Hilma Af Klint an artist who battled against traditions and earnt the most respect after she passed away. This follows through her young years to her final days, as we see how she wouldn’t follow the expectations for the time to become whom we look back at now.
The story is told in a way that feels like a reflective mood of everything that happened in her life. It does show the history behind her and what her impact had on the people around her too.
Hilma will be released in UK cinemas on 28th October. Early 2023, Hilma will also be available on Viaplay UK, Viaplay’s streaming service set to launch in the UK this autumn
Final Thoughts – Hilma is a great look at an iconic artist’s life before her fame.