This film is based on a very popular series of children's books written by novelist Martha Sandwall-Bergström. There have been a couple of adaptations of Bergströms books, but Kulla-Gulla is her most famous and revered work.
In the 80's Swedish public service(SVT) made a TV-series based on the same books.
Its fairly simple story about lonely orphan girl Gunilla(Kulla-Gulla) who gets placed as an housemaid with a sharecropper, and then gets attention from squire Sylvester who asks strange questions. But why?
This film is utterly predictable in its Dickensian attempts to tell the story about a orphan with secretive past. But no wonder, since it is aimed at children and not adults.
The acting is fairly good, with Malou Fredén in the main lead as Kulla-Gulla. Fredén has only a handful of credits on IMDb and this film seems to be her last film. Whatever happened to her? Fredén does good job, and brings that kind of bright eyed optimism that this type of film needs.
Märta Dorff as the comic relief role as Mamsell Modigh, one of the maids working at the Sylvester household. She makes a lot out of one smaller part.
Margaretha Bergström does a great performance as an upperclass girl, Regina Sylvester. This is one the few great performances in this film. There are nuances, emotions, that Bergström carefully plays out to the audience. Reminiscent of Elizabeth Taylor in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958).
Other then some few great performances this film is very bland, predictable. I would be surprised if even kids liked it. Disney massproduces these type of stories every year, so a kid today might be too sophisticated for this type of film.
Luckily for director Håkan Bergström he made better films then this, like the noir crime drama Farligt löfte (1955). Future viewers should watch that film instead of this.
