The ’20s were, for all intents and purposes, the birth of the feature-length horror film. While there had been some dabbling in the genre prior, (The Student of Prague, The Avenging Conscience, The Queen of Spades) The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920) changed everything. In its wake came Nosferatu, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, The Unknown, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and The Phantom of the Opera, among others, irreversibly changing the course of genre history. But of this early wave of horror, two stand movies in particular stand out: the first two Swedish horror films.
Released back to back in 1921, The Phantom Carriage was one of the most audacious films of its day. Based on Selma Lagerlöf’s classic novel Thy Soul Shall Bear Witness!, The Phantom Carriage is a supernatural morality play about David Holm (played by director Victor Sjöström), a lonely, miserable drunk spending New Year’s Eve...
Released back to back in 1921, The Phantom Carriage was one of the most audacious films of its day. Based on Selma Lagerlöf’s classic novel Thy Soul Shall Bear Witness!, The Phantom Carriage is a supernatural morality play about David Holm (played by director Victor Sjöström), a lonely, miserable drunk spending New Year’s Eve...
- 2/2/2018
- by Perry Ruhland
- DailyDead
The Phantom Carriage (1921)
Directed by Victor Sjostrom
Written by Selma Lagerlof and Victor Sjostrom
Cinematography by Julius Jaenzon
For many, the tired face and defeated body of Victor Sjostrom became synonymous with mortality in Ingmar Bergman’s pivotal film, Wild Strawberries. Few know that he was not only Bergman’s mentor but one of cinema’s greatest filmmakers. For Bergman, there was no greater film than Sjostrom’s The Phantom Carriage and he would revisit it yearly, often on a summer day, losing himself in it’s angst and plays of light.
There are many similarities between Wild Strawberries and The Phantom Carriage. The most obvious being the central force of Sjostrom, who not only directs The Phantom Carriage but stars in it as well. Both are about men hardened by life, forced to confront and reflect upon their empty existence. Sjostrom plays a much younger man in his own film,...
Directed by Victor Sjostrom
Written by Selma Lagerlof and Victor Sjostrom
Cinematography by Julius Jaenzon
For many, the tired face and defeated body of Victor Sjostrom became synonymous with mortality in Ingmar Bergman’s pivotal film, Wild Strawberries. Few know that he was not only Bergman’s mentor but one of cinema’s greatest filmmakers. For Bergman, there was no greater film than Sjostrom’s The Phantom Carriage and he would revisit it yearly, often on a summer day, losing himself in it’s angst and plays of light.
There are many similarities between Wild Strawberries and The Phantom Carriage. The most obvious being the central force of Sjostrom, who not only directs The Phantom Carriage but stars in it as well. Both are about men hardened by life, forced to confront and reflect upon their empty existence. Sjostrom plays a much younger man in his own film,...
- 12/19/2011
- by Justine
- SoundOnSight
Gunnar Hedes Saga / The Blizzard (1923) Direction: Mauritz Stiller Cast: Einar Hanson, Mary Johnson, Stina Berg, Hugo Björne, Pauline Brunius Screenplay: Mauritz Stiller; from Selma Lagerlöf's novel Mary Johnson, Einar Hanson, The Blizzard Directed by Mauritz Stiller, the Swedish drama Gunnar Hedes saga / The Blizzard tells the confusing story about how a reindeer stampede affected the life of a violin player. I found the continuity hard to follow, perhaps because, as the San Francisco Silent Film Festival program explained, "Great chunks of The Blizzard have been missing for years." The Blizzard stars Einar Hanson as Gunnar Hedes, the son of an aristocratic family. When a troupe of traveling performers comes to his village, Gunnar falls in love with the waif-like violinist Ingrid (Mary Johnson), who looks a bit like Greta Garbo in Stiller's Gösta Berlings Saga, released the following year. After the reindeer disaster, Gunnar goes mad and imagines that...
- 8/24/2011
- by Danny Fortune
- Alt Film Guide
Cinematographer who brought a sensuous style to 12 of Ingmar Bergman's films
The Swedish cinematographer Gunnar Fischer, who has died aged 100, could be said to have created the "look" of Ingmar Bergman's films, crystallised in three of the director's masterpieces: Smiles of a Summer Night (1955), The Seventh Seal and Wild Strawberries (both 1957). From Port of Call (1948) to The Devil's Eye (1960), 12 films in all, Fischer was able to make visible Bergman's visions.
He was born in Ljungby, in southern Sweden. After spending three years in the Swedish navy as a chef, he attended the Royal Academy of Art in Stockholm, where he studied with the celebrated decorative artist Otte Sköld. He had an apprenticeship in cinematography at Svensk Filmindustri (Sf), the country's leading production company. His mentor there was the cinematographer Julius Jaenzon, who worked with the two great masters of Swedish silent cinema, Victor Sjöström and Mauritz Stiller. This...
The Swedish cinematographer Gunnar Fischer, who has died aged 100, could be said to have created the "look" of Ingmar Bergman's films, crystallised in three of the director's masterpieces: Smiles of a Summer Night (1955), The Seventh Seal and Wild Strawberries (both 1957). From Port of Call (1948) to The Devil's Eye (1960), 12 films in all, Fischer was able to make visible Bergman's visions.
He was born in Ljungby, in southern Sweden. After spending three years in the Swedish navy as a chef, he attended the Royal Academy of Art in Stockholm, where he studied with the celebrated decorative artist Otte Sköld. He had an apprenticeship in cinematography at Svensk Filmindustri (Sf), the country's leading production company. His mentor there was the cinematographer Julius Jaenzon, who worked with the two great masters of Swedish silent cinema, Victor Sjöström and Mauritz Stiller. This...
- 6/14/2011
- by Ronald Bergan
- The Guardian - Film News
Sad news tonight folks. Longtime Ingmar Bergman collaborator, Gunnar Fischer, has passed away earlier today at the ripe old age of 100. I just saw the Masters Of Cinema twitter feed posting a link to this Swedish web site (HD.se), announcing that he had died earlier today in Sweden.
From the translated story:
Gunnar Fischer out of time
The photographer and film director Gunnar Fischer died on Saturday, 100 years old.
Stockholm. He worked closely with Ingmar Bergman in the 50′s in classic films such as Summer with Monika, The Seventh Seal, Wild Strawberries and The Magician.
- He passed away in the afternoon. This fall, he would have turned 101 years, says his son and cinematographer Jens Fischer said.
Gunnar Fischer was employed by the Swedish Film Industry 1935-1970 and the 1970-75 Svt.
Fischer‘s cinematography is well represented in the Criterion Collection. You can find him working with Bergman early...
From the translated story:
Gunnar Fischer out of time
The photographer and film director Gunnar Fischer died on Saturday, 100 years old.
Stockholm. He worked closely with Ingmar Bergman in the 50′s in classic films such as Summer with Monika, The Seventh Seal, Wild Strawberries and The Magician.
- He passed away in the afternoon. This fall, he would have turned 101 years, says his son and cinematographer Jens Fischer said.
Gunnar Fischer was employed by the Swedish Film Industry 1935-1970 and the 1970-75 Svt.
Fischer‘s cinematography is well represented in the Criterion Collection. You can find him working with Bergman early...
- 6/12/2011
- by Ryan Gallagher
- CriterionCast
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