Flight of the Eagle

Flight of the Eagle is a Swedish biographical drama film which was released to cinemas in Sweden on 26 August 1982, directed by Jan Troell, based on Per Olof Sundman's 1967 novelization of the true story of S. A. Andrée's Arctic balloon expedition of 1897, an ill-fated effort to reach the North Pole in which all three expedition members perished. The film stars Max von Sydow as S.A. Andrée, Sverre Anker Ousdal as Knut Frænkel and Göran Stangertz as Nils Strindberg. Dutch-Swedish songwriter Cornelis Vreeswijk plays the role of the journalist Lundström. The film was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film at the 55th Academy Awards. Many sequences from the film were used in the 1997 documentary A Frozen Dream (En frusen dröm), also directed by Troell. Cast Max von Sydow as Salomon August Andrée Göran Stangertz as Nils Strindberg Sverre Anker Ousdal as Knut Frænkel Clément Harari as Henri Lachambre Eva von Hanno as Gurli Linder Lotta Larsson as Anna Charlier Jan-Olof Strandberg as Nils Ekholm Henric Holmberg as Vilhelm Swedenborg Ulla Sjöblom as Andrée's Sister Mimi Pollak as Mina Andrée Cornelis Vreeswijk as Lundström Ingvar Kjellson as Alfred Nobel Bruno Sörwing as Oscar II of Sweden Åke Wihlney as The Captain Berto Marklund as The Ship's Doctor Knut Husebø as Fridtjof Nansen Allan Schulman as Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld Staffan Liljander as The Inventor Lasse Pöysti as Photographer Peter Schildt as Andrée's clerk Siv Ericks as Mrs. Assarsson Production The early drafts for a script were written in 1977, and the same year a team consisting of Jan Troell, the producer Bengt Forslund, the original writer of the novel Per Olof Sundman and a few other people went to Spitsbergen for location scouting. Troell was at the time in the post-production process of his film Bang!, and when Bang! was selected for the 1977 Cannes Film Festival, the plan was to use the festival to attract investors. However, Bang! was poorly received and the interest faded even from the Swedish Film Institute. The project was put on hold and Troell went to the United States to direct Hurricane, an assignment he was offered after the previous director Roman Polanski had suddenly left the country to avoid sentencing for unlawful sexual intercourse with a thirteen-year-old in Los Angeles.