Pippi Goes on Board

Pippi carries on living with Tommy and Annika: shopping at the market, colliding with the neighbours, keeping a horse and a monkey at home. Then her father, lost at sea, turns up and wants to take her away on his ship. She has to decide. Olle Hellbom directed, from Astrid Lindgren's books, with the author writing the screenplay. Inger Nilsson plays Pippi. This is one of the feature versions cut from material first shot as a Swedish television series; several films were drawn from the same footage. What still works is Pippi's stance toward adult authority: the rules do not apply to her and nobody can change that. The story proceeds episodically and builds no central plot. The theme of separation grows unexpectedly heavy at the end; for a children's film it speaks about loss directly. Who it is for: viewers who like classic Scandinavian children's films and want something to watch with family. Who it is not for: anyone after pace; the film moves scene by scene.