Tree of Knowledge () is a 1981 Danish coming-of-age drama directed by Nils Malmros. The film details the lives of 17 teenage schoolmates in 1950s Denmark. Shooting on location at the high school which he had attended, Malmros took two years to film the action, so the cast members reflected the real-life physical and emotional development of their characters.
Tree of Knowledge received two awards: the Danish Film Critics Bodil Award for Jan Weincke's cinematography, and the Audience Award at the Lübeck Nordic Film Festival. Tree of Knowledge is one of the top 100 Danish films listed by the Danish Film Institute and is one of ten films listed in the cultural canon of Denmark by the Danish Ministry of Culture.
The film was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 1982 Cannes Film Festival and was selected as the Danish entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 55th Academy Awards, but was not accepted as a nominee.Margaret Herrick Library, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
Cast Actor Role Eva Gram SchjoldagerElin Jan JohansenNiels-Ole Line Arlien-SøborgAnne-Mette Marian WendelboElisabeth Gitte Iben AndersenLene Brian TheibelWilly Bonde Class teacher Merete VolstedlundAnne-Mette's mother Karin FlensborgElin's mother Knud AndreasenElin's father Lone ElliotMaj-Britt Astrid Holm NielsenIna Bo von der LippeJørn Morten NautrupFlemming Martin Lysholm JepsenHelge Anders ØrgårdGert Dan Rørmand BrøggerTorkild Lars Spang KjeldsenSøren Roland Nikolaj FlensborgKaj Hanne SørensenMona Anne-Mette Brinch AndersenGås Anne-Mette Kjøller WarloJoan Malene DarreLoppe Lars Hjort FrederiksenCarsten Karen MøllerMrs. Andreasen Jørgen Nygaard Pastor Arne Ringgaard Dance teacher Thorkild TromholtPianist Rikke Malmros Gym teacher Uffe Bak Gym teacher Norma NissenMrs Scheel Svend Schmidt-Nielsen Park ranger Per CortesMusic teacher Birgit Rafman Margit Due Christian Svendsen Jeanette Hede Jørg Bjerre Andersen
Production When Nils Malmros called Gitte Iben Andersen to say that she had been chosen to play Lene, she objected that there was a group nudity scene. She initially refused to play the scene for that reason but eventually agreed when Malmos remarked that all other girls had accepted the scene, without realising that he had used the same trick with them.
Reception Film Critic Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times wrote "The Tree of Knowledge is the truest and most moving film I have ever seen about the experience of puberty... a creative act of memory about exactly what it was like to be 13 in 1953."Roger Ebert /Chicago Sun-Times, 1 December 1982.
See also List of submissions to the 55th Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film List of Danish submissions for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film
References
External links
Kundskabens træ, at Den Danske Film Database (In Danish)