Review of Hennsys spetsfyndigheter (1916/1917)
Seen in 2026.
Seen at GFF 2026, as part of the Göteborgsepoker series. The version shown at the film festival had voiceover by a living descendant of the main character.
“Hennsy”, a fictionalized version of the widow Hanne Mannheimer (1835–1918), leaves her collection of lace and goes bothering her large family to arrange a New-Year’s-Eve party at her place.
This is essentially a home movie, intended to be shown to the people who are in it, but produced by the Hasselblad camera company on standard film because not even 16 mm had been invented yet. As such, it is a myopically upper-class affair, but it is self-deprecating in a way that makes it funny at a 110-year remove. The modern Mannheimer’s monologue adds a couple of extra jokes that went down well when I saw it at Draken, filled to capacity.