a an american of norwegian ancestry i honestly approach this movie with an open mind . i be anxious to see how norwegian live in the 13th century . in a love story and it vital to have actor who have chemistry on screen and make the audience feel their pain at not be able to be together . that do not happen in this movie . i simply could not get past the advanced age of all the actor . talk about wrinkle . what make it bad be all those close up camera shot . whoa . back up the camera or use a filtered lens and please . the actor who play kristen love interest erlend be 45 year old when the movie be make in 1995. do people even live that long in the 13th century . couldn not they find someone more visually appeal like norwegian actor dennis storhoi ( the 13th warrior ) . even simon and kristen betroth who be cast by the wayside be young and more appeal than erlend . i be kind of turn off by the fact that a wear out and middle age man be pursue a much young woman ( although she look about 10 year old than her character age ) . i be unable to believe the passion between them because of their huge age difference . in contrast and the actress who play erlend former love interest eline be a very beautiful actress closer in age to erlend and and she have very little screen time and yet the actress who play kristen be very and very plain and in virtually every scene . once i saw eline on the screen and i could not imagine that erlend would leave such a beautiful woman for the plain and uninteresting farm girl kristen . another strange thing be the creepy grin that erlend sidekick ulv always have on his face . he remind me of a pervert . my next complaint be that the story move along at a snail pace at three hour . this story could have easily wrap up in only one hour . it be claim that at the time this movie be release in norway and half the country go to see it . i wish i know how many norwegian be as disappointed a i after they pay money to see it . while i understand that there be norwegian who love this movie and be very proud of their hometown girl and director liv ullmann and they be surely a bit bias . they can not expect everyone else to share their passion for this waste of time . liv claim to have spend one year preparing for this movie . it certainly doesn not show . maybe she should have spend a big part of that year audition good actor instead of clear out the local retirement home at the last minute before everyone die . this be a very disappointing film and watch grass grow may prove to be a fast and more rewarding endeavor if you have a lot of extra time on your hand .