Ungen

Ungen (The Child) is a Norwegian film musical and drama film from 1974 directed by Barthold Halle. The main roles are played by Britt Langlie, Bjørn Skagestad, Kirsti Kolstad, and Sølvi Wang. The film is loosely based on Oskar Braaten's play Ungen: folkeliv i fire akter (The Child: Everyday Life in Four Acts) from 1911, which is about the young unmarried and pregnant factory worker Milja. The film can be characterized as a musical drama with certain comedic elements. Plot The plot is set in Kristiania at the end of the 19th century. The young factory worker Milja (Britt Langlie) ends up unmarried and pregnant and is abandoned by Julius (Bjørn Skagestad) in favor of the beautiful but unreliable Petrina (Kirsti Kolstad). Julius allows himself to be bewitched by the unreliable girl, who leads him to drink and steal. Milja soon sits alone with her shame and her unplanned child. Desperate, Milja tries to give her child away, so that he will have better conditions than those she herself can manage to give him. But Hønse-Lovisa manages to convince her that material benefits can never outweigh true love and care. Hønse-Lovisa is a woman in the local community that takes care of single mothers, and thus offers shelter and care to factory girls that have gotten "into trouble" so that they can keep their children even if they were born out of wedlock. Background and production Braaten's play Ungen was first staged at the National Theater in 1913. In 1938 the first film adaptation was released, and in 1960 a television version of the play was aired. Braaten was strongly connected with the Norwegian Theater, and the theatrical premiere of the musical took place at the theater in 1973. The film is based on this theater production. The musical has been staged several times on Norwegian stages, including at the Torshov Theater in the fall of 2014, where it received very positive reviews in Aftenposten. The theater musical was written by Harald Tusberg and Egil Monn-Iversen, who had leading roles in Norwegian entertainment. The musical was adapted for film by Barthold Halle and Randi Weum.