Summaries

Synopsis

"Nikolai Astrup should have been as famous as Edvard Munch, but the world seems to have forgotten about him - until now"

"What distinguishes Astrup is his spirit and verve. He doesn't see fear in the landscape so much as energy"The Guardian 2016

Thure Lindhardt ("THE BRIDGE") is portraying Nikolai Astrup (1880-1928), one of Norway's biggest visual artists, in the epic biopic "Astrup - Catching the flame". A young Nikolai rebels against his pietistic priest father. Communist Anton Fond (Dennis Storhøi), his mentor, inspires him to travel around Europe on a quest to learn. In Paris, he despises his fashionable painter colleagues and finds his own style. After six months of studying and living a dissolute life, he returns home to Jølster in Sunnfjord in the spring of 1902. There he continues to be inspired by local traditions, superstitions, and pagan customs. His colorful portrayals of Western Norway's lush nature and way of life has been loved for generations. The iconic Midsummer night shots of bonfire, joy, dancing, alcohol, and eroticism are salt in wounds of his priest father and the village pietists. His marriage to 15-year-old Engel (Henriette Marø) causes a stir of reactions, but Nikolai and Engel pay the gossip no mind. They go on to have 8 children and build Astruptunet with their own hands, which later becomes the motive for many of his most famous images.

Astrup - Catching the flame takes us on a journey through Nikolai Astrup's life and the inspiration behind his most famous images up until his premature death in 1928.