Løperjenten

The setting is Bergen on the West Coast of Norway. The year is 1948 during the reverberations of the war; the trial of war criminals, the rebuilding of war-torn Europe and the economic and cultural invasion by the USA. Admidst all this turmoil Kamilla and Svein grow up. Kamilla si the daughter of a bankrupt factory owner making his living as a shoemaker and with dreams of a prosperous new life in North America. Svein is a working-class child. Together they experience homes breaking up and violendce, child cruelty and social and emotional humiliation. Together they develp the love and solidarity lacking in both homes. Without power and resources they fight a losing battle against the nonchaland coldness, indifference and selfishness of the adults. The film is a general description of the environment in a distinctive part of Norway seen through childrens eyes, children who never experience being the object of parental love. (Norsk Filminstitutt)