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The Juniper Tree

Play trailer Poster for The Juniper Tree Released Apr 10, 1990 1h 20m Drama Fantasy Play Trailer Watchlist
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100% Tomatometer 22 Reviews 60% Popcornmeter 500+ Ratings
A widowed farmer's (Valdimar Orn Flygenring) son resists his new stepmother's (Bryndis Petra Bragadottir) attempts to win him over.

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The Juniper Tree

Critics Reviews

View All (22) Critics Reviews
Michael Phillips Chicago Tribune Keene complicates our feelings about the characters in subtle and useful ways, treating Katla in particular as something more intriguing than a garden-variety evil stepmother, even when she's serving up stew with a cannibalistic secret ingredient. Rated: 3.5/4 Jul 12, 2019 Full Review Robert Abele Los Angeles Times "The Juniper Tree" is absorbing enough to make one rue there weren't more. Apr 16, 2019 Full Review Mark Asch Film Comment Magazine Keene is doing the right kind of critical revisionism-reframing the uncanny, contorted alien logic of folktales within a politically updated dynamic, offering her own interpretation of an old story while honoring its lingering richness. Mar 21, 2019 Full Review Grant Watson Fiction Machine It visibly prefigures a lot of subsequent independent cinema as well as the growing revival of folk horror on screen. Rated: 7/10 Oct 10, 2024 Full Review Marya E. Gates Cool People Have Feelings, Too. (Substack) Not only does Keene’s film contain truly haunting imagery, she beautifully captures the vastness of coastal Iceland Feb 13, 2024 Full Review Kanishk Devgan Film Companion It happens to be the debut of genre-bending, experimental pop music artist, Björk, and whilst that is enough of a hook for many...the last thing this film should be remembered as is trivia. Mar 29, 2021 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View All (29) audience reviews
Audience Member If you are looking for a film to match the original Brother's Grimm version of "The Juniper Tree" This movies depiction comes close but is still not accurate. Aside from the slow motion pace and bizarre images this story has little to do with Grimm's tale. Rather we get a deeper insight into ancient Witchcrafts and the repercussions of Spells used against their targets. On one hand the Icelandic scenery is captivating ,while on the other it leaves the viewer rather mystified . The rugged landscapes make it impossible to imagine how anyone could make a living among the rocky infertile Soils and Volcanic sulfur where these characters reside. After all is said and done its the closest rendition we might ever get to the Brothers Grimm tales.Unfortunately it didn't impress me much and left much more to be desired. Its close but still no Cigar! Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 02/18/23 Full Review Audience Member Watching "The Juniper Tree" amounts to a mystical and meditative journey that invokes a state of quiet reverie. While one is invariably left at a loss to express a complete understanding of what they have just witnessed, the resulting mystery only enhances the wondrous spell that the film casts on the viewer. The stylistic and thematic qualities of the film converge to produce an experience of stark and simple purity, enhanced by the always effective aesthetic of breathtaking black and white. We are captivated as though witnessing a faerie tale that may at any moment stun us with the kinds of magical and terrifying developments possible only in the world of fables and lore, and Keene ultimately achieves success through the rare evocation of what filmmaker Werner Herzog refers to as "ecstatic truth." In other words, the spectral qualities of Keene's fantasy world directly reflect the underlying mysteries of our own, and we are left contemplating a story that has enlightened us with its poetic take on life itself. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/14/23 Full Review william k Imaginative and intelligent re-interpretation of the Brothers Grimm fairy tale convinces with beautiful b/w photography and a wonderful performance by Björk. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Audience Member A Brothers Grimm fairy story told through a feminist lens by subverting the archetype of the "evil stepmother". Although Brothers Grimm tales were collected from Western Europe, the details are reworked to fit in the Icelandic setting. Keene is doing something here with domestic scenes: we see all of the household labor being done by the women, who also have to put up with the men's fragile egos. While it turns out the little boy was right about his new mother practicing witchcraft, the film is ambivalent about whether the spells are effective or not. A lot of the scenes show people sleeping and lying in bed, which doesn't make for riveting cinema. However, it's really neat that the interiors were historically accurate since they used rooms at Icelandic museums. There's an incredibly gorgeous scene when Bjork is wandering into the spirit world down a path with waterfalls. I admit I watched this because Bjork was in it. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 01/22/23 Full Review Audience Member FINALY I HAVE THIS ONE !! Rated 3 out of 5 stars 02/23/23 Full Review Audience Member Slow paced, black and white Icelandic movie, loosely based on the Grimm's fairy tale of The Juniper Tree, in which the evil stepmother kills the young son of her husband, puts him in her soup and lets the father eat from it. The sister finds bones in the soup and buries them under the juniper tree. Eventually the boy returns as a bird (but the last part of the tale, in which the boy has his revenge, is missing in the movie). The main attraction in this film is the younger of the two sisters, played by Björk. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 02/15/23 Full Review Read all reviews
The Juniper Tree

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Cast & Crew

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Movie Info

Synopsis A widowed farmer's (Valdimar Orn Flygenring) son resists his new stepmother's (Bryndis Petra Bragadottir) attempts to win him over.
Director
Nietzchka Keene
Producer
Nietzchka Keene, Patrick Moyroud
Production Co
Hydrola
Genre
Drama, Fantasy
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Apr 10, 1990, Limited
Release Date (Streaming)
Aug 10, 2004
Runtime
1h 20m
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