Sonja: The White Swan (2018)

Directed by: Anne Sewitsky | 113 minutes | biography, drama | Actors: Ine Marie Wilmann, Valene Kane, Eldar Skar, Anders Mordal, Anneke von der Lippe, Aidan McArdle, Malcolm Adams, Huhg O’Conor, Pål Sverre Hagen, Norma Sheahan, Gustavo Rojo, Luna Sellæg Fulker, Ike Vanderhill, Halvor Halvorsen

Norwegian figure skater Sonja Henie is known as the inventor of modern figure skating. She is the one who made the sport popular with the general public. Part of her life is filmed in this European co-production. Ine Marie Willman stars in the lead role as the talented and driven Sonja.

Raised in a wealthy family, Sonja gets every opportunity to practice sports. Her father Wilhelm (Anders Mordal) is a fur trader and he helps her to win three Olympic medals in a row, in 1928, 1932 and 1936. That is also the kick-off of the film, at the Games in Garmisch-Partenkirchen. Sonja wins amid the Nazi flags and is approached afterwards by American manager Arthur Wirtz (Malcolm Adams). He has big plans for an American career. Sonja eagerly accepts and leaves for Hollywood. When the money pours in, she fills stadiums and lands a lucrative film deal, her brother Leif (Eldar Skar) takes on an increasingly important role in her financial management. Sonja’s confidante Connie (Valene Kane) – who secretly has a crush on her – watches it all with dismay. This also applies to childhood friend Niels (Pål Sverre Hagen).

Ignoring the people around her, Sonja is completely absorbed in Hollywood’s glittering existence: wild parties, booze and men. A lucrative deal with the legendary Darryl Zanuck (Aidan McArdle), head of 20th Century Fox, sees her become the highest paid movie star. Of course she stands out, not least because of her turbulent private life: she has a relationship with top actor Tyrone Power (Gustavo Rojo) and she marries several times. She has fans all over the world – including Adolf Hitler, who is mentioned a few times and who is said to have been a big fan of her 1941 film ‘Sun Valley Serenade’.

She may not be well known to modern audiences, but she was – as is clear from her performance – a superstar in her own time. By the way: in Amsterdam there is a street named after her.

Willman delivers a powerful performance, convincingly playing the innocent Norwegian girl as the shrewd and cunning movie star. Almost every scene revolves around her, and Willman draws all the attention to himself – whether it’s in the lavish figure skating scenes, or as the aging Sonja tries to find a way out of all the financial hardships. She did (almost) all the skating herself – which only makes her achievement even more impressive.

Director Anne Sewitsky has plenty of material to choose from and focuses mainly on her American years. Sewitsky and Willman have worked together before, in ‘De nærmeste’. By choosing one specific period, ‘Sonja’ is not a standard biographical story, although a short flashback scene creeps up here and there. The decor is fantastic and the old Hollywood style in its glamorous heyday is very well taken. Still, the film doesn’t really hit the mark. Sonja remains unapproachable for too long, making it difficult to really live with. Only in the last part do you see as a viewer that Sonja drops her mask and Willman shows the vulnerability of the once celebrated star. It’s well acted, but comes too late to take the film to the next level.