My Friend Twigson - DVD

Film: When little Lillebror (Adrian Grønnevik Smith) moves into a somewhat run-down house in the country with his parents and big brother, his joy is initially limited. After his dad loses his job, he now has to spend a lot of time away from the family as a salesman for women's underwear, and Lillebror's mother (Pernille Sørensen) hardly has any time for the boy either, as she has now also had to take a job as a saleswoman during these hard times. And to make matters worse, the kids in his neighborhood don't really prove to be friendly either. But all that changes when he finds the talking branch, Knerten, and quickly befriends the little wooden man. The two quickly become an unbeatable team, going on many adventures and even doing something to help Lillebror's family get better. But can a piece of wood really replace real friends?

My Friend Knerten is a charming, somewhat whimsical fairy tale film from Norway that has been such a huge success in its homeland that Knerten has since been allowed to make its mischief in the cinema two more times. With a lot of love for his characters, director Åsleik Engmark, who lends his voice to Twigson in the original, sings a hymn to the power of a child's imagination. Without quick cuts and over-the-top action, the film simply indulges in good humor, which can quickly infect a young audience in particular. While two scenes in which Twigson has dark nightmares might be a little scary for very young viewers, overall the story about the talking branch is a really nice children's film.

The charm of the very big role models, the beautiful Astrid Lindgren film adaptations, does not reach My Friend Twigson, however. Nevertheless, a pleasant breath of nostalgia blows around the charming production, which is very pleasant especially in times of many noisy 3D effect films. A nice adventure film for children, which can be shown confidently to Twigson fans from the age of 5. Recommended!

Picture + Sound: The rugged but beautiful scenery of Norway comes through well on the DVD. There are small weaknesses in detail during darker moments, but overall the overall sharpness is convincing. The vibrant colour scheme also ensures that the DVD's visuals can be considered an absolute success. The sound is primarily dominated by the film's score and dialogue, with a few nice ambient noises and surround effects coming along rather discreetly. Overall, this earns a satisfied: good!

Extras: As the only bonus there are short interviews with the dubbing actors, as well as a preview of the second part, which comes in 2012 in German cinemas (in Norway ran 2011 already part 3).

Conclusion: My Friend Twigson is a nice children's film that tries hard to revive the charm of old Astrid Lindgren film adaptations, but in the end can only partially live up to these great role models. Nevertheless, the original story is told in an adorable way, with a few minor drawbacks, and the film is well worth seeing for little viewers aged 5 and up. These will then hardly bother that the DVD has hardly noteworthy extras to offer. Recommended

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp