Martha (1967)

Martha (1967). 1h 33m

“As previous commentators have so rightfully pointed out, Martha is the true cult-movie of the merchant marine… but not only in Denmark. It has had – and still has – a tremendous impact in Sweden as well, with Martha-societies arranging Martha-evenings (complete with a showing of the film itself and a nice dinner with nothing missing except perhaps the Brottsjösill. The (Swedish, in fact) traditional Aquavit brand O P Andersson tend to be available in abundance, though. Among the seafarers in Sweden, Martha has been known since the early 70:s, and more or less illegal thirdhand VHS-copies was distributed widely along with the first-hand movies and VHS-tapes. Recently, a DVD-version – with new and (hopefully) improved Swedish translation – is available with some extra goodies. Sadly, the translation from Danish to Swedish is somewhat lacking in accuracy, at least on the VHS-copy Iu0026#39;ve seen. The Danish phrase which means u0026quot;steady she goes!u0026quot; is translated into the Swedish equivalent of u0026quot;She sails beautifully!u0026quot; which is a shame, really. Iu0026#39;ve learned that Martha is shown to students as well, which is very good indeed.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eI cannot give praise enough to this film. For many seafarers, it is THE movie, strangely accurately showing the seamenu0026#39;s life of bygone days – albeit with a humorous twist or two – better than any serious-faced documentary.”