About Tilla (1963), original title Om Tilla, is a Norwegian drama film directed and written by Arne Skouen. The film is based on Skouen’s own work “Bare om barn” and was the first film in his trilogy about children with behavioural and developmental difficulties. The story follows the child psychologist Ivar, who tries to help Tilla, a young girl who has not spoken for a year and a half, while also uncovering the emotional trauma shared by Tilla and her mother, Maria. The film stars Eva Henning, Toralv Maurstad, Wenche Foss and Synne Skouen, and is one of Skouen’s more intimate psychological dramas.
Several scenes in Om Tilla were filmed in Oslo. Botanisk hage is directly tied to the film’s opening story, where Ivar goes there to find Maria, Tilla’s mother. The garden setting gives the film a quiet, slightly withdrawn atmosphere that fits Maria’s fragile state and Tilla’s closed-off inner world. Akershus Fortress is also used in the film, including scenes where Tilla and her mother move around and play inside the fortress grounds. Later, Tilla returns to Akershus and looks out across the Oslofjord, waiting and hoping for the ship connected to her father.
Akershus Fortress
Akershus Fortress has been used in Norwegian film as both a historical setting and a dramatic Oslo landmark. It appears in About Tilla and in Max Manus.
Botanical Garden Oslo
Botanical Garden is in the Norwegian movie About Tilla from 1963. Botanical Garden is used as one of the film’s central early locations.
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