The Swedish fantasy book Ronja, the Robber’s Daughter was first published in 1981, and Astrid Lindgren’s tale has become an unavoidable phenomenon not only in the country’s culture, but also worldwide. It was translated into 39 languages, sold over 100 million copies, and even inspired an award-winning film adaptation in 1984. Not to mention that, surprisingly, the Japanese Ghibli Studio was also captivated by this medieval phantasmagoria, in the form of a 26-part anime series, under the supervision of Goro Miyazaki, they transferred the friendship of Ronja and Birk and the story of the warring bandits to the TV screen in an enchanted right in the middle of the forest.
A The bridge The father of the Swedish-Danish series, Hans Rosenfeldt, who mainly works in the crime genre, was surprised when he was approached with the possibility of making a new, large-scale adaptation of Ronja, which would be the home of Viaplay. The specialist said yes to the project, which is referred to as Scandinavia’s most ambitious television production – compared to previous adaptations of the children’s fairy tale, it is darker, more horroristic, more adult, and admittedly such a direction they tried to tailor it to him which
favors Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings fans.
If the online video store called Viaplay had not started to perform badly and was struggling, they might never have handed over Ronja and the bandit to Netflix, but the market-leading streaming service provider had the good sense to strike the 12-part series and a few regions, including Hungary. the six-part first half of the story was brought exclusively on March 28.
The pilot episode picks up at the birth of the title character, Ronja, the robber leader Mattis (Christopher Wagelin) and his gang are celebrating in the castle they live in, that his wife, Lovis (Krista Kosonen), has given birth to a healthy baby. Apparently, not everyone is happy regarding the newcomer, let’s say, for example, not even those terrible wraiths who inhabit the surrounding forest and give it an ominous sound. The birth of Ronja is crucial, following all, the castle almost collapses when lightning strikes it, dividing the building complex into two parts, which will be of great importance later on. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves.
Ronja, the robber’s daughter, was really very inspired by The Lord of the Rings. The band of robbers is a bit reminiscent of the hobbits, as its members live in relative happiness, while, when night falls, in addition to the already mentioned harpies, they are confronted by dwarves who feed on human fear, mystical mists and a hostile group of roadblocks, Borka’s (Sverrir Gudnason) putty group they must also keep The landscapes are beautiful, surrounded by sophisticated photography and folk music, we can enjoy how Kerstin Linden, who plays the main character Ronja, goes on an adventure defying the dangers. Heeds his father’s advice, so much so that he also befriends Borka’s son, Birk (Jack Bergenholtz Henriksson), who barges into the castle uninvited.
It is clear that Ronja and Birk’s friendship is already doomed to tragedy because of the warring robber gangs and the two fathers blowing on the other. Of course, this does not prevent children from immersing themselves in this mystical world.
The strength of Ronja, the Robber’s Daughter is that the writers do not slack off at all when it comes to building mythology, the continuous story line, the wicked little cliffhangers guarantee that we don’t want to stop exploring the forest.
Fantasy series like this usually have a serious flaw and a serious flaw in that the creators did not have enough money to create special creatures and CGI. In the case of Ronja, the robber’s daughter, there is no question of the same, the already mentioned wraiths are first class, creepy, but the evil dwarves also easily bring a Lord of the Rings level.
Let’s hope they take notes at Netflix, because even though Vaják had a fair budget, the monsters hunted by Geralt looked terribly lame, they almost fell off the screen. Here, however, we watch with amazement mixed with terror as the harpies chase Ronja.
What you can get involved in are the fight scenes so far. It is true that they are trying to imitate those clips when, say, Aragorn rode in slow motion, here the costumes and knight armor were not nearly as believable and realistic. Also, none of the sword-arson fights in the first two parts are cathartic. Apart from that, there is no way to trace that Ronja, the Robber’s Daughter is a children’s fairy tale adaptation, the younger ones might be able to crack it up, even if they watch it with their parents. But for fantasy fans, it’s a must-see, because it’s clear from the beginning that it was made with heart and soul, and as Ronja’s story is twisted, there will be plenty of heroism and drama here.
8/10
Ronja, the robber’s daughter can be watched with dubbing and Hungarian subtitles on Netflix, Part 2, i.e. the second act of the remaining six episodes of the season, will be released in 2024.
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