Victor Sjöström: Swedish Original
December 23, 30, and 31
- He Who Gets Slapped
- The Wind
The Girl from Stormy Croft - The Scarlet Letter
- The Outlaw and His Wife (Berg-Ejvind och hans hustru)
- The Kiss of Death
- Ingeborg Holm
The Gardner (Trädgårdsmästaren) - A Man There Was (Terje Vigen)
The Sea Vultures (Havsgamar) - The Phantom Chariot (Körkarlen)
***All film programs are held in the East Building Auditorium except where noted***
Ingeborg Holm
Ray Brubacher on piano
December 23 at 12:00 p.m.
Ingeborg Holm proved to be the virtual starting point for European art cinema with its creative deep focus and carefully choreographed blocking. The story (adapted from Nils Krok's play) follows widow Ingeborg's pathetic clashes with the Swedish welfare bureaucracy. The film eventually prompted a debate that led to reform. "Ingeborg Holm was also influential in cinema's battle for intellectual legitimacy. As one Gothenburg reviewer declared at the film's premiere: 'Film can be art!'" — Christopher Oscarson (1913, 35 mm, silent with Swedish intertitles translated live, 72 mins.)
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The Gardner (Trädgårdsmästaren)
The Gardner was the director's debut, which sadly proved a disappointment to him: the newly established Swedish censor board banned it from public view because "the association of death and beauty poses a threat to order." In Denmark, where it was not banned, critics made special mention of the landscape photography and subtle acting. (1912, 35 mm, silent, 34 mins.)
Calendar of Events | Victor Sjöström list
A Man There Was (Terje Vigen)
Ray Brubacher on piano
December 30 at 2:00 p.m.
Henrik Ibsen's epic poem Terje Vigen was the source, and the rocky coast near Stockholm the setting, for a film that became another turning point in the history of cinema — the beginning of Sweden's golden age. Critics were impressed not only with the faithful adaptation of a Norwegian national poem (the Norwegian actor chosen to play Vigen backed out, so the Swede Sjöström cast himself ), but also by Julius Jaenzon's cinematography. In the film, Vigen attempts the impossible — he rows through a British blockade during the Napoleonic Wars. (1917, 35 mm, silent with Norwegian intertitles translated live, 53 mins.)
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The Sea Vultures (Havsgamar)
The Sea Vultures employs Sjöström's signature deep focus to give landscape another key role. A seemingly respectable merchant and his son secretly work as smugglers on the rocky reefs. One evening they kill a customs official and attempt to cover up their crime. The past comes back to haunt them, however, when the post left vacant by the murdered official is filled by a surprise applicant. (1916, 35 mm, Swedish intertitles translated live, 44 mins.)
Calendar of Events | Victor Sjöström list
The Phantom Chariot (Körkarlen)
Ray Brubacher on piano
December 31 at 2:00 p.m.
Sjöström casts himself as the alcoholic David Holm, summoned on a tranquil New Year's Eve by the Salvation Army's sickly Sister Edith who tries to save him one final time before she dies. The Phantom Chariot is unique with its contemporary city setting and experimental photography, double exposures, flashbacks, and stories-within-stories to drive the narrative (adapted from Selma Lagerlöf's novella). For Ingmar Bergman, the film was his first great experience with the cinema. (1921, 35 mm, Swedish intertitles translated live, 106 mins.)
Calendar of Events | Victor Sjöström list
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