OVERLAY REPORT

In the 1950 Swedish film *Girl with Hyacinths* (*Flicka och hyacinter*), the primary conflict is the profound **existential and social isolation** of the protagonist, Dagmar Brink, which stems from her repressed identity and her inability to find genuine connection in a society dominated by the needs and projections of men. ### **The Primary Conflict: Identity vs. Social Alienation** The central conflict is revealed posthumously as her neighbor, Anders Wikner, investigates why Dagmar committed suicide. The conflict exists on two levels: 1. **Interpersonal Conflict with Men:** Throughout her life, Dagmar is "written over" by the men around her, each of whom sees her only as a reflection of their own desires or failures. This includes a father who abandoned her, a narcissistic singer (Willy Borge) who viewed her as a conquest, and an alcoholic artist (Elias Körner) who painted her as "Miss Lonely" but could not truly see her. 2. **Internal/Societal Conflict (The "Secret"):** The film’s "Rosebud" moment is the revelation that Dagmar was a lesbian. Her primary conflict was the impossibility of living authentically in 1940s/50s Sweden. Her failed marriage and subsequent "loner" status were the results of her hiding her true self. ### **How It Started: The Final Betrayal** While the conflict of her identity was lifelong, the specific chain of events that led to her suicide began with her relationship with a woman named **Alex**. * **The Love Letters:** The conflict with her ex-husband, Captain Brink, started when he discovered passionate love letters from Paris signed by "Alex." Because the name was ambiguous, the Captain assumed she was having an affair with a man. This led to their divorce. * **The Political Rift:** During their marriage, a specific conflict erupted over the Captain's **pro-Nazi sympathies**. Dagmar was horrified by his admiration for the German army, calling it "vile" and "appalling," while he dismissed her concerns, further alienating her from him. * **The Breaking Point:** Dagmar had pinned her final hopes for happiness on Alex. On the night of her suicide, she attended a party where she unexpectedly encountered Alex. She discovered that Alex had **collaborated with the Nazis** in occupied Paris to "survive." When Dagmar expressed her heartbreak and disgust, Alex told her to "go to hell" and left the room with another man (the singer Willy Borge). This final betrayal—the realization that the one person she loved was a moral collaborator and had ultimately rejected her—was the immediate trigger for the film’s opening scene, where Dagmar returns home and hangs herself. ### **Specific Narrative Detail** The tragedy is compounded by the fact that the male investigator, Anders, concludes his search believing Dagmar died because she was a "love-struck ninny" over a man named Alex. Only his wife, **Britt**, realizes the truth about Dagmar’s sexuality and the nature of her heartbreak, but she chooses not to correct her husband, leaving Dagmar’s true conflict a secret even in death.