Escape to the North (Flykt i Norr/Flucht in den Norden)

German-Finnish co-production

Original German Title FLUCHT IN DEN NORDEN
Language German
Drama
Duration 130 mins
Released 1985
Script Ingemo Engström based on a novel by Klaus Mann
Director Ingemo Engström
Cast Lena Olin, Katharina Thalbach, Tom Pöysti, Käbi Laretei, Juuka-Pekka Palo
Story:
Summer 1933. Johanna, a young woman resistance fighter, flees from Germany with the intention of travelling via Finland to join her comrades-in-arms in France. She encounters Ragnar, who for many years has led an unsettled life on the continent, and who is unable to come to terms with his role as an estate owner. Like her but unlike his brother, he is uncom-promising in his rejection of Fascism.

Ragnar and Johanna plunge into a passionate love affair. Confronted with Ragnar's demand for directness, her political goals which had previously seemed so clear, now begin to lose their reality. Together with Ragnar she sets out on a journey to the North.

As a result of the impressions gained during her journey and the conflict in her love affair, not merely does Johanna's political goal become more and more alien, but life itself.

In Ragnar's eyes Johanna's political commitment is nothing but a loss. Driven by Ragnar, the journey turns into a different kind of flight. Their feelings fluctuate from intimacy to alienation, from coalescence to detachment, and in Johanna's case culminate in a wish for death....