MovieChat Forums > Den goda viljan (1992) Discussion > Question about Petrus

Question about Petrus

posted 13 years ago by jedicat1855
1 reply | jump to latest

No one visits this board but I thought I would ask and see if anyone could tell me what they thought. Petrus was the boy who Anna and Henrik took in after being abused by the people who were taking care of him. In the first scene after he arrives, where Henrik is being offered the job in Stockholm, Anna speaks of Petrus in a kind manner, calling him a kind and obedient boy, and then reassures him that they are just talking and have no plans to move as of yet. The next scene is where she is telling Henrik he must return to the home where he lived before and she is tired of him, can not love him. Petrus overhears what is said and the rest, we know what happens. So my question is, what changed Anna? I know this movie has been cut down from its original show so I am wondering if something was cut out. Why is she positive towards him and ok with him staying and then later so against him? Was it because she wanting to go back to her mothers and she thought Petrus was holding her back, knowing she could not leave him? Or did something else happen? Why was she so cold towards him? I have to say I felt great sorrow for Petrus, even though it was horrible of what he was going to do he did not deserve to be so violently slapped or beat like that, and I was astonished that Anna would continue to let it happen, did she not care at all about him? Yes she was upset about her own baby and what could have happen, as any parent would be, but be a human being, realize that that boy is a human being and stop the beating, very harsh of both of them I think, you could tell she knew she should stop it but refused to, I was very disappointed in how she refused to handle the situation properly, I thought she was better than that.

[–] morganseer 13 years ago

I have the 2 pc. VHS set, which is probably a fuller version than yours, because it has several scenes with Petrus. He is a silent child who helps around the house, but appears morose.

My first reaction to that scene was the same as yours--I was shocked she could be so callous. But then I realized that generosity wears thin over time, and that I might have some resentment too if I were in her shoes. Taking Petrus on was her husband's idea, and that at first it was meant to be short-term, not permanent.

When Anna talked to her husband about sending Petrus back to his guardians, she said "he looks at me with dog-like eyes." I suspect she found his brooding nature disturbing. She was also pregnant, hormonal, exhausted, burnt out, depressed, and living in a place she didn't want to be. She wanted some time for herself and her husband, and to focus on the coming baby. It could also be that she didn't even then fully trust him.