REDISCOVER THE LOVE STORY! JOHN M. JACOBSEN AND PANCHO KOHNER PRESENT

REDISCOVER THE LOVE STORY! JOHN M. JACOBSEN AND PANCHO KOHNER PRESENT

THE STORY Nobel Prize winner Knut Hamsun s immortal novel VICTORIA from 1898 was the original LOVE STORY (remember Eric Segal s publishing bonanza and Paramount s box office smash hit from 1970). It has everything a cinema audience could wish for: young love, class conflict, beautiful costumes, glorious settings and in the end a heartbreaking tragedy when Victoria on her deathbed confesses her true love to the man she didn t get and should have had. The Penguin Classic edition of the book was reviewed on 22nd November 2007 by Joey D on the Net. We quote from his review: THIS NOVELLA WOULD MAKE A GREAT MOVIE! It won t take the reader long to quickly breeze through this touching, tantalizing and tragic tale of two star-crossed lovers Johannes and Victoria. However once you are through with this novella, odds are you will never forget it... Johannes is the relatively poor son of a miller who secretly pines for the beautiful Victoria, daughter of the lord of the castle (who also holds her admirer, covertly close to her heart)... Hamsun was a man who seemed to find the sublime in sorrow and sadness: Asked what love is, some reply: It is only a wind whispering among the roses and dying away. This is undoubtedly one of his finest works and by far, his greatest love story.... As I referred to in my title, I don t understand why Hollywood hasn t made a movie based on this story yet, especially with all of the recycled garbage it continues to put out.

VICTORIA S JOURNEY TO THE SCREEN Over the years VICTORIA has been eagerly sought by filmmakers who saw its obvious appeal. It was filmed the first time in Germany in 1935. For a time it was even optioned by 20th Century Fox. But the rights have remained with the Paul Kohner family in Los Angeles. Kohner was a colorful character who was brought to the US by Carl Laemmle who had founded Universal Pictures some years earlier. Kohner ended up as head of production for Universal when they were still making silent movies. He was then sent to Berlin to run their office there. Germany under Hitler was obviously not the place for a Czech Jew so Kohner decided to quit and become a film producer. He had heard about VICTORIA and bought the film rights directly from the author in 1935. His friend, the legendary studio executive Irving Thalberg had just moved from Universal to MGM and Kohner made a deal for MGM to finance the film, but before they could get a contract drawn up Thalberg died of pneumonia in 1936. Kohner never got to make his dream movie. He became a legendary Hollywood agent instead, representing a long list of the most famous names in the film industry up until his death in 1988.

THE FILM MAKERS THE DIRECTOR/WRITER Torun Lian is one of Norway s foremost dramatists and her first film as director, ONLY CLOUDS MOVE THE STARS (1998) still stands as the most award winning Norwegian film ever. THE PRODUCERS John M. Jacobsen and Sveinung Golimo are among the most experienced producers in Norway. Both have served as chairman of the Norwegian Producers Association for many years. Their last two films MAX MANUS and TROLLHUNTER are among the most successful Norwegian films ever on the international market. Pancho Kohner has had a lifelong career in the American film industry as an executive and writer/director/producer. He is an Emmy winner for his television series MADELINE. THE CAMERAMAN Norwegian Harald Paalgaard is one of the country s most outstanding cameramen and one of the few to also have been honored in Sweden and Denmark for his work in local films there.

THE DIRECTOR S VISION During my work on the script I have even if it is terrifyingly relevant even today not emphasized father decides daughter s husband to be or rich girl loves poor boy. I have concentrated on Johannes and Victoria, their emotional bonds, the way they try to balance their fragile relationship, how they approach each other, but always with one of them withholding, leading them to tum their backs to the other. I wanted to show the hope they see in blessed moments when they eye a hope for the two of them together, but how they end up through pride and honor to block their road to happiness. Torun Lian

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