Children as real human individuals with the difficulties this involves. Anna and Peiter are 11 years old. Peiter's parents are divorced. Only for one week a year does he live with his father, on the same island as Anna. The children have been friends for years. But this year (because of beginning puberty?) they have difficulty in getting in real touch. Day after day they fail. - Outside a café Peiter boasts that he can do everything. Anna tells him to fetch the thing she is thinking of. He goes inside, asks a guest to rise and brings his chair to Anna. This was indeed the right thing, and this chair will re-appear in other scenes. Another day Peiter boasts that he is not afraid of being locked up in a desolate tower for a few hours. Anna closes the lock on the outside. But her parents prevent her from going out again and Peiter remained alone in the tower for the entire night. -Finally all seven days have gone and the gap that prevented full contact is still not closed.
Acting
Non-professional kids who actually behave like real children — messy and true.
Cinematography
That chair. You'll understand. Simple objects, heavy meaning.
Director
Anders Grönros
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Sweden's 1970s children's cinema often rejected Disneyfication for raw emotional realism — this is prime 'uncomfortable kids behaving badly' territory.
The Swedish title 'Den åttonde dagen' refers to the day after creation — suggesting these children are building a new, uncertain world between childhood and adolescence.
SE
