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Strings (2004 film)

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Strings
Directed byAnders Rønnow Klarlund
Written byNaja Marie Aidt
Anders Rønnow Klarlund
Produced byAage Aaberge
Niels Bald
Kate Barry
Jan Blomgren
Mike Downey
Rumle Hammerich
Axel Helgeland
Peter Aalbæk Jensen
Sam Lavender
Zorana Piggott
Sam Taylor
Ole Wendorff-Østergaard
StarringJames McAvoy: Hal (English)
Jonas Karlsson: Hal (Swedish)
Catherine McCormack: Zita (English)
Melinda Kinnaman: Zita (Swedish)
Julian Glover: Kahro (English)
Distributed byBOB Film Sweden AB
Bald Film
Film and Music Entertainment
Mainstream ApS
Nordisk Film
Radar Film
Sandrew Metronome Distribution
Zentropa Entertainments
Running time
91 minutes

Strings is a mythic fantasy film about the son of an ostensibly assassinated ruler who sets out to avenge his father but through a series of revelations comes to a much clearer understanding of the conflict between the two peoples concerned. The film was made with marionettes and the strings are part of the fictional world as life strings. It is famed for its innovative cinematography and scenic design.

Strings is directed by Dane Anders Rønnow Klarlund and is a Danish-Swedish-Norwegian-British co-production. The film has received several awards.

The world of Strings

The fact that the characters are played by marionettes is incorporated into the movie's fictional universe. That is, the characters are literally marionettes. Wide shots of the countryside reveal millions of strings stretching endlessly into the sky, each one representing an individual on earth. Nobody knows how far the strings reach or who is controlling them. As far as the characters know the strings are controlled by a higher power.

When a string attached to a moveable limb is severed, it is analogous to amputation; the individual loses the ability to use that body part. Once a string is cut nothing can repair it or bring back to life whatever it was attached to. If the "head string" is cut it results in permanent death.

Since nothing can reanimate a body part after its string is cut, repairs to injured individuals must be made using healthy, unsevered parts. An unfortunate collection of poor people and prisoners is kept as a donor class. When a person of royalty or other social importance loses a body part, another is involuntarily taken from a prisoner and replaced with its string intact.

Prisons are designed around the fact that the strings reach up endlessly into the sky. Rather than cells, the prisoners are confined underneath huge horizontal grids, and the range of mobility allowed by their strings is limited by small square openings in the grid through which the strings are inserted and locked within.

Instead of giving birth, a couple fashions a new child out of wood. After an unspecified amount of time a set of luminous new strings gently descends from the sky and is quickly attached to the inanimate infant by the parents. This act immediately and miraculously endows the inert wooden figure with life.

Later it is also revealed that some people have discovered the ability to "leap" incredible distances and effectively fly for a short time; essentially this is analogous to the puppeteer jerking on the marionette's string and making it soar through the sky. It is only when the protagonist understands the unity of all living things, and the power of love, that he is able to acquire the skill.

Voice Cast

Awards and honours

Awards and nominations
Ceremony Award Category Nominee Result
Ale Kino! - International Young Audience Film Festival 2005 Golden Poznan Goat   Strings Nominated
Emden International Film Festival 2005 Emden Film Award   Strings Nominated
Sitges - Catalonian International Film Festival 2004 Citizen Kane Award for Best Directorial Revelation   Strings Won
Grand Prize of European Fantasy Film in Silver - Special Mention   Strings Won
Best Film   Strings Nominated
Robert Awards 2006 Best Children's Film   Strings Won


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