The name Astrid Lindgren is all but synonymous with her character, Pippi Longstocking, the misbehaver of children’s literature since 1945.
But the movie Becoming Astrid isn’t about how Pippi came to be, rather it’s about how the celebrated author who created her came to be. It focuses on the adversity of Astrid’s late teens and early 20s and her experience as an unwed mother in conservative 1920s Sweden that makes her rise to prominence as a beloved children’s literary icon all the more remarkable.
Before she was Astrid Lindgren, she was Astrid Ericsson, one of four children, a lively, irreverent girl growing up a in a small Swedish village and a religiously rigid household. Astrid is mischievous and non-conformist and restless to break free from the confines of her conservative upbringing. At 16, already a gifted writer and aching for self-expression, she’s given an internship at the local newspaper by the editor Reinhold Blomberg. It isn’t long until her middle-aged, about to be divorced employer and young Astrid begin a clandestine affair.
Barely more than a child herself, Astrid becomes pregnant and, fearing societal repercussions and shame on her family, she’s forced to go to Copenhagen to secretly give birth. She has a son, whom she reluctantly and heartbreakingly leaves in the care of a foster mother, Marie. The strain, confusion and heartache of being apart from her son and the emotional frustration as both Blomberg and her parents disappoint her are too much to bear. Astrid goes into self-imposed exile in Stockholm, working and saving up for the long trips to Denmark to see her son. When Marie falls ill, Astrid is finally able to bring her son back to Sweden and uses her imagination and flair for story-telling to try to connect with a child who doesn’t know her.
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Becoming Astrid is an intimate story of quiet triumph over pain. In spite of her struggles, Astrid emerges from her character-building experience with a newfound courage that ultimately formed the foundation of a vast and beloved body of work. Perhaps in her iconic Pippi stories, where kids are independent and unafraid, she explores how she hopes her son coped with his early years without her. It’s an engrossing, beautifully acted film (Alba August as Astrid is superb) depicting a dramatic portion of Lindgren’s life. You don’t have to be familiar with her stories to enjoy this film.
Becoming Astrid shows at the Salmar Classic Cinema at 5 p.m. on April 6.
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