Körkarlen (1921)

Director: Victor Sjöström
Writer: Selma Lagerlöf (novel), Victor Sjöström (screenplay)

Directed by and starring Victor Sjöström, the film centers around a legend: if someone who has sinned greatly dies at the stroke of midnight on New Year's Eve (going into the New Year, that is) he has to drive the titular carriage, transporting the souls of the dead to "the other side." David Holm is this unlucky guy. The phantom carriage comes for him and the previous driver reminds David of his sins (leaving his wife, throwing away his life on booze, being ungrateful to the now dying nun that helped him, and other niceties).

I'll be the first to admit that most silent films are about as much to sit through as a full physical from Dr. JellyFinger. And then there are some like Körkarlen (The Phantom Carriage or Thy Soul Shall Bear Witness) which is lyrical and touching. Tracking down a copy of this to watch was not especially easy until I ran across two versions of it on GoogleVideo. A full-length cut with Swedish intertitles and an edited version (by 13 minutes!) with English intertitles. Since my Swedish is not what it should be, I decided to watch both at the same time and try to mentally associate the English intertitles with the Swedish version while trying to pick up on cognates. I often lament the internet and new technology's effects on film but this time I bit back my snobbery and gave thanks to that useful black hole.

For a film that's kicking 90, the effects are really effective. The use of blue tinting and superimpositions give the carriage a creepy feel. The music that plays when the carriage appears, largely scratching violin strings, evokes plenty of unease in the viewer. I still marvel at how simple the effects are but how much of an impact they have. The filmmaker shoots the scenes twice with different action and printing the two one the same filmstrip. Combining these effects with the strong but universal story, a troubled everyman who must atone for his sins, the film leaves a lasting impact on the viewer. As a horror movie, Körkarlen belongs in the pantheon of silent horror shows like Das Kabinett des Dr. Caligari (1920), Nosferatu (1922), and The Phantom of the Opera (1925).

While Körkarlen is a morality play and at times heavy-handed with its religious subject matter, particularly the scenes between David and the Sister Edith, Sjöström's direction and the music from the Swedish cut are just marvelous, a real tribute to the medium. The acting is overly theatrical at times but like all "silent" films that is forgivable since synchronous sound hadn't been fully developed yet. I really hope Kino or Criterion can put together a complete cut on DVD one day, it's a must-see and deserves more recognition than it presently gets.