“Little Lord” Borgen in brief summary
Norway early XX century. The hero – Wilfred Sagen, the Little Lord, grows up in the hypocritical atmosphere of a rich bourgeois family. Outstanding nature of a fourteen-year-old boy is disgusted by the pretense of the mother and other relatives, their desire to protect him from real life. The hero does not allow anyone into his inner world. However, trying to assert himself, Wilfred uses the same weapon as the people he despises – pretense. “He had another life, not at all like the one they themselves drew.”
Waking up in the morning after the reception of the guests, which was arranged on the eve of the mother, Wilfred feels irritated, everything causes him to feel sick: the room itself, its smells, the thought of going to school. Using influence on his mother, he asks her permission to skip school and go to Buhde: he hopes to find under the thawed snow plants that are missing in the herbarium. When the mother briefly leaves the room, he unlocks the secretor
The second, Wilfred’s secret life day after day more and more captures the hero: the world in which he lives, should be full of emotions, even if created artificially. Sometimes, to cheer yourself up. Little Lord visits classmate Andreas, a boy from a poor family. Having been enjoying the “boredom” that reigns in this family, its poverty, Andreas’s humiliation, he returns to his rich home, rejoicing that his life is so different from the life of a school friend. This thought leads him into a wonderful mood.
In that spring Wilfred’s last child’s ball took place – here he had to pretend, not sparing his strength. Being among his peers, Wilfred saw only one way to protect his loneliness – to feel like a stranger among them. During the ball in the secret life of Wilfred, there is one more significant event. Over dinner, the hero goes to the terrace and suddenly sees a crying aunt Christina. In embarrassment, she approaches the boy, taps him on the shoulder. Accidentally for a second the teenager’s hand touches the aunt’s chest. Suddenly he feels hot. Before he realized what he was doing, Wilfred embraced Christine by the neck and pressed his lips to her lips. She immediately pushed him away, but not angrily, but as if regretting the impossible…
After the event at the ball, all the thoughts of the hero tend to Aunt Christina, embodying the secret of adult life, unknown to Wilfred. the mother briefly leaves the room, he unlocks the secretor and steals from her purse a half crown. Then he assigns in the expenditure sheet with the accurate handwriting of the mother the amount he just appropriated. Of course he does not travel to Bugda. The purpose of his journey is one of the districts of the city with a bad reputation. Driving through the tram to these places, Wilfred feels a familiar already sweet chill in the body. In the gateway of one of the houses, he, by using money and his ability to influence others, finds one-day friends, in whose companies a robbery of a tobacco shop is committed. Of course, the hero goes to this only because of the desire to experience strong feelings, to feel power over people: he throws money from the cash desk to boys, as a gift. Before leaving the shop, the Little Lord strikes a bargain with the old man. The one, stunned, falls. Now Wilfred has another mystery, a bad deed, about which he knows one, – for this it is worth living! In a state of blissful tranquility, the hero decides to bring joy to the mother – she writes a thank-you letter from the headmaster of the school for raising her son.
The second, Wilfred’s secret life day after day more and more captures the hero: the world in which he lives, should be full of emotions, even if created artificially. Sometimes, to cheer yourself up. Little Lord visits classmate Andreas, a boy from a poor family. Having been enjoying the “boredom” that reigns in this family, its poverty, Andreas’s humiliation, he returns to his rich home, rejoicing that his life is so different from the life of a school friend. This thought leads him into a wonderful mood.
In that spring Wilfred’s last child’s ball took place – here he had to pretend, not sparing his strength. Being among his peers, Wilfred saw only one way to protect his loneliness – to feel like a stranger among them. During the ball in the secret life of Wilfred, there is one more significant event. Over dinner, the hero goes to the terrace and suddenly sees a crying aunt Christina. In embarrassment, she approaches the boy, taps him on the shoulder. Accidentally for a second the teenager’s hand touches the aunt’s chest. Suddenly he feels hot. Before he realized what he was doing, Wilfred embraced Christine by the neck and pressed his lips to her lips. She immediately pushed him away, but not angrily, but as if regretting the impossible…
After the event at the ball, all the thoughts of the hero tend to Aunt Christina, embodying the secret of adult life, unknown to Wilfred. A teenager is looking for a meeting with her – and such an opportunity seems to be: she and her mother are resting in Skovlyu in summer, and Christina is coming to visit them. A children’s novel by Wilfred with Erna, his coeval, is fastened to Skvlyu. After the arrival of Aunt Christina, these sublime relationships begin to weigh upon the Little Lord. Once in the woods he meets Aunt Christina, and “now their feet are already, lips are not merged in the previous inept impulse: that which was devoid of flesh, suddenly found flesh, everything swam before their eyes, and they fell on the hard grass” . But fate was pleased that this time Wilfred was still virgin. Only later, already in the city, Christina herself will come to him, and Little Lord will experience what he so eagerly sought.
Left in Skkolyu one-on-one with his thoughts and feelings, the teenager painfully searches for answers to those questions, which now and then puts his life before him. Somehow during the bath, the children suddenly found that Tom, the son of a gardener, had disappeared. The company of teenagers covers the most terrible forebodings, all are suppressed. Erna begs Wilfred to do “anything.” And Wilfred, with a superhuman effort of will, concentrating, suddenly “sees” where Tom might be. He finds the drowned Tom in a deserted place – the boy swam away from the company, because he did not have bathing trunks. Wilfred takes Tom’s body ashore, makes artificial respiration until exhaustion. But why does not he want someone to be around and help him? And if one can not cope? Would he prefer that Tom die, but not resort to someone else’s help? ..
After a while, in the winter, the same foreboding as in the case of Tom, suddenly makes Wilfred return to Skvlya. He goes to the house of Frau Fraxaxen, a pauper of a lonely woman “with oddities,” which, as Wilfred found out, was at one time the lover of his father and who has a son from his father six years older than the Little Lord. In the house he finds the corpse of Frazaxen – she is dead, and no one knows about it. The boy falls ill: he is speechless. There is a doctor, an Austrian, who undertakes to heal him. After recovering and returning home, the teenager is again immersed in an atmosphere of lies and hypocrisy that reigns in the mother’s house. Wilfred began to notice drunk, he is increasingly looking for oblivion in visiting restaurants, restaurants, beer cellars.
Once in the restaurant-variety two people sat down to him, forced to pay for the drunk. Wilfred obeyed, they demanded yet, a drunken conversation ensued. Two told the story that once happened to them: some barchuk – just like him – he beat the local boys to rob a tobacco shop, and then killed the old Jew, the owner of the shop. Only now Wilfred learns that the owner of the shop died. Appears a certain girl with a wound in the corner of his mouth – like he saw in the pictures in a brochure about sexually transmitted diseases. Invites Wilfred to take a walk with her… He woke up with a terrible pain in his hand – it was broken – all in blood, naked, somewhere in the woods. From behind the branches of the trees there was a muffled giggling of children, a male voice – they were watching him. Trying to hide from people, he runs, himself without knowing where. Falling onto the rails – the heaviness of the wheels of the train, probably, will bring relief. But there is no train, and the crowd of pursuers is already there. Wilfred runs to the sea, jumping from the pier into the water. But the pursuers untie the boats. One of them confidently says: “Now he can not leave.”
Norway of the First World War. Time of impoverishment of many and fantastic enrichment of those who, hypocritically shedding tears over the dead, successfully speculates on the stock exchange. The hero has matured, lives now separately from his mother, in the artist’s studio. The struggle between the light and dark beginnings, between sympathy for people and indifference to them continues in the soul of Wilfred.
The financial position of the hero is getting worse day by day – he still does not know how to “make money,” does not want to look like the former classmate Andreas, who has now become a successful businessman. And you have to spend a lot, especially on Sedina, a girl with a faulty past, to which he feels a sincere feeling – however, it seems, without reciprocity. Wilfred has to abandon the workshop. She and Sedina live in some hovel in the mountains, and from time to time Wilfred goes down to the city at night as a thief, gets into the mother’s house when everyone is asleep and stuffs the backpack with groceries. Somehow, after returning after another food outing, Wilfred saw Celina on the bench directly opposite the entrance. The lower part of her body was exposed, her blood was draining from her legs. Nearby lay a lump, smeared with blood and mucus: Sedina had a miscarriage. Tragic accident, or she did everything herself and did not have time to finish before Wilfred’s return? This terrible question torments the hero.
Aunt Charlotte, sister of her father, died. In the crematorium, watching the relatives, Wilfred is once again convinced that they have long been no longer a family, each exists by itself. Uncle Renee is leaving for Paris, with whom happy childhood memories are associated – it was he who introduced the boy to art. Standing on the pier, Wilfred feels that he loves this man very much, now something very important and expensive will leave his life…
Wilfred plunges into the life of one of the underground “clubs”, and, more simply, of gambling and public houses in Denmark. Here he got by accident – he rode with his friends on a yacht, and in Copenhagen on suspicion of smuggling everyone was arrested by the police. Wilfred escaped this fate thanks to Adele, one of the organizers of the North Pole club: she “smells a good lover behind a verst.” However, Wilfred himself is not averse to playing this role: Adele is a beautiful, tall, strong woman, attracted by her blatant obscenity. This life was pleasant to him, because “the light left his soul and did not want to light up any more.”
One day, when Wilfred was lucky for the first time in a card game, the police came to the club with a raid. In the general turmoil, Wilfred manages to put money in his pockets. In the “salon” Wilfred finds one of the prostitutes of an infant who is abandoned and takes it with him. He hides some of the money in the pantry. For a long time he, pretending to be a Dane looking for an apartment, lives in the family of the famous writer Berge Weid, is fond of translations, writing stories. Berg Wiid highly appreciates the literary success of Wilfred, by mutual consent prints them under his own name, and they divide the money in half. With Wilfred there is a terrible case: one day, when walking with a boy, he suddenly decides to get rid of him, dropping him off the cliff – what matters to him before other people’s problems! But suddenly the surging childhood memories stop the hero. Wilfred is tracked down by one of the prostitutes of the club, tells that they want to kill him for taking the money. The boy’s mother died. Obscured by the inexplicable desire to “take revenge” on the Viids family “for good,” Wilfred admits to hiring his people that he is not a Dane or the father of a child, leaves the boy in this family and leaves – betraying became his habit. Taking the money from the cache of the storeroom of the club, he is ambushed – he was followed by former “companions” in the club. Escaping from the pursuers, the hero hides in the conservatory, where at this time a concert Miriam Stein, a girl who since childhood is in love with him. With the help of Berg Wiid, she takes Wilfred to her homeland. family Viids “for good,” Wilfred admits to hiring his people in that he is not a Dane and not the father of a child, leaves the boy in this family and leaves – betraying became his habit. Taking the money from the cache of the storeroom of the club, he is ambushed – he was followed by former “companions” in the club. Escaping from the pursuers, the hero hides in the conservatory, where at this time a concert Miriam Stein, a girl who since childhood is in love with him. With the help of Berg Wiid, she takes Wilfred to her homeland. family Viids “for good,” Wilfred admits to hiring his people in that he is not a Dane and not the father of a child, leaves the boy in this family and leaves – betraying became his habit. Taking the money from the cache of the storeroom of the club, he is ambushed – he was followed by former “companions” in the club. Escaping from the pursuers, the hero hides in the conservatory, where at this time a concert Miriam Stein, a girl who since childhood is in love with him. With the help of Berg Wiid, she takes Wilfred to her homeland. Escaping from the pursuers, the hero hides in the conservatory, where at this time a concert Miriam Stein, a girl who since childhood is in love with him. With the help of Berg Wiid, she takes Wilfred to her homeland. Escaping from the pursuers, the hero hides in the conservatory, where at this time a concert Miriam Stein, a girl who since childhood is in love with him. With the help of Berg Wiid, she takes Wilfred to her homeland.
Returning home, Wilfred tries to understand himself, explain his existence. Not seeing the point in his life, the hero decides to commit suicide. Standing on his knees in the bushes near the railway, he waits for the passing train, and suddenly realizes that he has no right to “cut off the knock of his heart” – as once did the father of Wilfred – he must live to the end.
The Second World War. In Norway, the persecution of Jews began. A group of refugees, including Miriam, sneaks through the snow-covered forest to the Swedish border – there, in the promised land, they will not be threatened. In the short moments of rest Miriam recall episodes from a past, carefree life. Together with these episodes comes the memory of Wilfred. She met him a quarter of a century ago, she once saved him in Copenhagen. Then, in Paris, he gave her the happiest days; he chose many in his life, she – only him… Suddenly a group of refugees breaks into an ambush of the border police. Miriam and several other refugees manage to cross the border, while the rest fall into the power of the police. Their commander is a tall, slender, handsome man of about forty – usually such handsome men turn out to be the most cruel. They are led for a very long time, then suddenly a strange thing happens: they find themselves near the border clearing, and the handsome orders to flee. Then he quickly moves away from the border, takes out a jumpsuit and a sweater, hidden in one of the woodpiles, and changes clothes. The right hand of a man is non-living, an artificial limb. All this is seen by a woman who lives nearby. She, the former maid of the Sagens, learns in the man who saved the Jews, Wilfred.
But there is another Wilfred, a friend of the German officer Moritz von Wakenitz. They are very similar to each other: cynics, both want from life other than others. In the long conversations between Wilfred and Moritz, the topic of betrayal often arises: Moritz wondered how Wilfred should feel, because in the eyes of people he was a traitor. Moritz knows nothing about Wilfred’s second, secret life, and even the hero does not attach much importance to it. Yes, he had to save people, but it’s “in the nature of things” when we save someone. Similarly, a few years ago in Paris, Wilfred saved the boy on the carousel – and lost his hand.
The closer the end of the war, the more Wilfred’s position becomes more and more ambiguous. There are talks that he secretly does some kind of good deeds, but on the whole he behaves “ambiguously,” and at such times it is already treason to his homeland. The hero himself seems to want to return to the bright roots, but he realizes with ruthless clarity that it is too late that he is running towards the catastrophe.
And the catastrophe happens. After the suicide of Moritz Wilfred understands that for him soon all will end. About this, he says, and Tom, the man whom Wilfred once saved. Tom hates Wilfred: he is sure that he saved him only to show himself as a hero. Tom’s son throws Wilfred stones. After him they again chase – like thirty years ago. But now he is “free of hope.” Once again Miriam comes to his aid, she alone understands him, knows that he saved the Jews then. But Wilfred is convinced: fellow citizens intoxicated with victory will not want to understand him. He hears the trampling of their feet, they are already coming here. Life is over – he pulls the trigger of the revolver. And he no longer hears that one of the pursuers who burst into the room says: “Now he can not leave.”
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