Together on the Island of Zeekraai – Tjorven, Båtsman och Moses (1964)

Directed by: Olle Hellbom | 88 minutes | family | Actors: Torsten Lilliecrona, Louise Edlind, Björn Söderbäck, Urban Strand, Stephen Lindholm, Bengt Eklund, Eva Stiberg, Lillemor Österlund, Bitte Ulvskog, Maria Johansson, Siegfried Fischer, Kristina Jämtmark, Torsten Wahlund, Manne Grünberger

The Swedish writer Astrid Lindgren always laughed when one wanted to give a deeper meaning to her books. She wanted nothing more than to write stories for children at the level of their experience. The grande dame of children’s literature did not like pretentiousness. This is well understood by director Olle Hellbom, who has translated many of her books to the silver screen. He knows how to convey the atmosphere of Lindgren’s work very well.

‘Together on the island of Zeekraai’ (‘Tjorven, Båtsman och Moses’) is based on the book “Vi på Saltkråkan”. The book was released the same year as the film and Astrid Lindgren wrote the screenplay herself. Zeekraai is a small island off the coast of Stockholm, where a rather clumsy father Melker Melkerson and his four children come to spend a year on holiday. The island is not only visited by tourists; there are also permanent residents, such as Mops and her parents, who own a grocery store, and Mr. Westerman, a somewhat queer old guy. Pug’s best friend is the much younger Stina, who is just changing teeth and loves fairy tales. Pug also has a sweet Saint Bernard dog, Boatswain, but when Mr. Westerman gives her a seal that he has caught, she soon forgets to pay attention to her four-legged friend.

The children all do a lot to make the seal, which is baptized Moses, feel at home. A pond is being built for him, he is fed fish every day, but of course a seal should not be kept as a pet. In addition, the funny storyline of Peter, a boy from the city, who is seen as a prince by Mops and Stina. The moment they kissed a frog in the hope that he would turn into a prince, Peter appeared in their field of view. Peter has a crush on Melker’s 19-year-old beautiful daughter, Malin Melkerson.

The film is well put together and offers an hour and a half of harmless entertainment. The way the children try to outsmart Mr Westerman is very nice. The visuals are fantastic and the acting is good across the board. Of course, the course of the film – even without prior knowledge of the book – is fairly predictable, but that will not be an obstacle for the target group.