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Madame de Thèbes (1915)
An early Mauritz Stiller movie, long thought lost
Madame de Thebes was found in France a couple of years ago, and was after some hassle returned to Sweden where it was restored. This is the oldest Mauritz Stiller film now in existence.
The story is wacky - a gypsy is cursed by her father, so that she has to deny her illegitimate son in order for him to have a successful life. She gives him to a well-to-do lady who has lost her own child.
Later, he has grown up to be a politician who wants to become the foreign minister. He doesn't know that his real mother is the famous Madame de Thebes, the fortuneteller who all politicians make sure to visit! This information falls into the hands of a rival, who tries to use it to ruin his career. Meanwhile, the rival's attractive daughter is attacked by a ruffian and needs to be rescued...
It's interesting to see how gypsies are depicted in this film. They aren't presented as evil, but it's taken for granted that they can do magic, and there is apparently a great social stigma attached to anyone who is associated with them - the rival can ruin the hero's entire political career simply by revealing that his mother is a gypsy, for instance.
The concept of a political fortuneteller seemed odd to me at first, but the character Madame de Thebes was apparently based on a real person.
There are a lot of striking images in this film. You can see the beauty of them even if the state of the print is far from perfect. The Norwegian actress Ragna Wettergreen gives a haunting performance as Madame de Thebes, with wisdom and regret - and quite a few melodramatic gestures. Understatement was not the norm in those days.
All the original tints have been restored, and the music at the showing I attended was beautiful and very fitting. The composer, Matti Bye, ought to make sure his music scores make it to future DVD releases of Swedish silent films.
Kärlek och journalistik (1916)
Light, cheerful comedy
Mauritz Stiller's most well known comedy is Erotikon (1920). The comedies he made before that, Kärlek och journalistik (Love and Journalism), Tomas Graals bästa film (Thomas Graal's best film), and Thomas Graals bästa barn (Thomas Graal's best child), are usually described as lesser movies which show the promise of better things to come. It's all a matter of individual taste, since comedy is subjective, but I thought these little 1910's movies were much more enjoyable than Erotikon. They are less controlled, and more zany. And Karin Molander has bigger parts in them.
Love and Journalism is very light fare, of course. It will not stay in your memory long, or if it does, you won't remember what the story was about. You will remember Karin Molander's cheerfully mischievous face as she scrubs her love-interest's shoes clean, or when, clad in a pajamas and a night cap, she makes herself comfortable on the divan with a news paper - and a cigarette! Karin Molander seems to play modern, sassy young women in most of her comedies. This comedy persona works so well for her, that I think she must have been a bit like that in real life. She has a great screen presence, which is what makes this movie worthwhile.
Fången på Karlstens fästning (1916)
Enjoyable, fast-paced adventure
Fången på Karlstens fästning (The Prisoner of the Karlsten Fortress) is an adventure story directed by Georg af Klercker, a director who was mostly active during the 1910's. Georg af Klercker was a rival to the more famous Swedish directors Mauritz Stiller and Victor Sjöström. He filmed stories of sensational content, which sometimes got him into trouble with the censors. Few of his movies survive today, but those that do are distinguished by their beautiful photography. So is Fången.
The villains of the piece are after a formula for an explosive. They kidnap the daughter of the man who owns the formula, because she has seen them steal it. Their theft is ill-planned, and several people witness the abduction of the lady - people they do not try to silence. Luckily for them, they have a fortress in the middle of the sea to escape to.
The story for this movie is not believable. The villains are really clumsy. There are some interesting lightning effects used in the fortress scenes which are reminiscent of the Danish Det Hemmelighedsfulde X, directed by Benjamin Christensen two years earlier. The scenes inside the valves of the castle might have inspired Mauritz Stiller, who used a similar kind of aesthetic in Sir Arne's Treasure.
It is also noteworthy that the heroine escapes through her own resourcefulness. She manages to send a message to some fishermen about her whereabouts, and gets herself away from the clutches of the kidnappers in order to meet her rescuers when they arrive.
This was the era of the serial queen, after all. It's a shame it didn't last.
Vingarne (1916)
Unconventional, but not as risqué as it ought to have been
Vingarne is based on Herman Bang's novel Mikael. For a long time, it was thought to be the earliest surviving film made by Mauritz Stiller.
It is also known for the fluidity of its editing, and for the odd framework story, which draws away one's attention from the film's real story, and therefore lessens its impact. The framework story is about how they made Vingarne. It begins with Mauritz Stiller making preparations for the filming, and takes us to the film premiere. It wraps up with a bit of comic business in the lead actress's house.
Today, all that survives of this framework story are a few grainy stills, but it is still enough to distract the viewer from what the film, Vingarne, is actually about. Why?
One theory is that the framework story exists to keep viewers from noticing Vingarne's cleverly hidden homosexual themes. These themes are clearly present in the novel Mikael. Its author, Herman Bang, was homosexual. Vingarne's scriptwriter was homosexual. Nils Asther, the young actor who doesn't get the part of the lead in the film in the framework story, because he appears "too young and inexperienced" when he kisses the lead actress, was homosexual. So, reportedly, was Mauritz Stiller. There are good reasons to look for homosexual subtext in Vingarne.
However, as another reviewer on this site has noted, there is barely anything like that there. Why would Mauritz Stiller want to gloss it over, if he had those leanings himself?
Swedish film is known for having challenged conservative standards with depictions of sex on the screen as early as the 1950's. But at the time when Mauritz Stiller was active, the Swedish film industry had a government-controlled film censorship bureau which was so strict that some Chaplin films were banned. Mauritz Stiller's films had been censored many times. He knew he wouldn't be allowed to make a film containing homosexual themes. But I think he did manage to slip in a few suggestive details into this one.
The most obvious thing in Vingarne is in its title. Vingarne, 'wings', refers to the sculpture which the older man is making of his younger friend. It depicts young Ganymedes getting kidnapped by Zeus in the form of an eagle. If you are not familiar with the myth, look it up.
Hämnaren (1915)
Antisemitism according to Mauritz Stiller
Hämnaren (The Avenger) was made in 1915, and was rediscovered in Berlin in 2001.
It begins with a woman named Ester, who is reading a letter and crying. The letter says that a man named George won't marry her, because he knows his father would never allow him to marry a Jewish woman. Ester dies of childbirth, and possibly a broken heart. Her suitor Jakob takes care of her son, who is named Josef, and sends George a note, accusing him of causing her death.
George, very shaken, changes his ways over the years and joins the clergy. Meanwhile Jakob, out of bitterness against George and all Christians, has turned into a Jewish stereotype of the kind which makes modern viewers shudder. He is a moneylender, intent on causing suffering to all Christians in order to avenge the death of the woman he loved. His adopted son Josef does not understand his bitterness.
Jakob has a Christian man, Mr von Sterner, in his power. Jakob knows von Sterner can't pay him back, and intends to take possession of his castle if he doesn't make the deadline he's set for him. Meanwhile, Josef has fallen in love with Mr von Sterner's daughter, Emma. He realizes he must save her from his own father if he is to ever win her love.
I don't quite know what to make of this movie. Its director, Mauritz Stiller, was Jewish, and his depiction of the Jews in this film is more interesting and many-sided than it would have been in other movies of that time. Jakob is indeed transformed into an ugly stereotype during the course of the movie, but his anger is explained by the death of his true love, even though it takes on unreasonable proportions. Ester was abandoned by her Christian lover because of his father's antisemitism. Mauritz Stiller clearly sees antisemitism as wrong, but he also believes that hatred exists on both sides. Hatred breeds more hatred, until it eventually spins out of control and the situation becomes unsolvable and destroys lives.
Josef, who is also Jewish because of his mother, is not a stereotypical character. He falls in love with a Christian woman. Josef and Emma are the young people who look to the future, in which Christians and Jews might live together in peace, while Jakob and his nemesis George refuse to forget the bitterness of the past.
One thing which this movie has in common with Madame de Thebes, another of Mauritz Stiller's movies from the same period, is that it begins with the depiction of a wronged woman, an unmarried mother. Although Madame de Thebes is a stronger character than Ester, the director sympathizes with them both. Women are either strong and active, or martyr-like in Mauritz Stiller's movies. He is always on their side.
Revelj (1917)
Melancholy melodrama
Mauritz Stiller and Victor Sjöström are famous in Swedish cinema history. With movies like Herr Arnes Pengar, Erotikon, Gösta Berlings Saga, Terje Vigen and Körkarlen, they were the creative forces behind the Swedish cinema's first golden age. Georg af Klercker, who worked at the Hasselblad film studios during the same period, is less well known today. The few of his movies that survive now are rarely seen.
Which is a shame, because they have their merits. One of them is the beautiful, charming Mary Johnson, the star of the Hasselblad studio. She is of course mostly known for her role as Elsalill in Herr Arnes Pengar, but before that, she was making melodramas under the direction of Georg af Klercker. In Revelj, she shines as the young waif who comes to live with her strict aunt. She is a free spirit, who loves playing around. When her aunt isn't looking, she stages plays for the servants, and flirts with a handsome soldier. In defiance of her aunt, who wants her to marry a rich man, she sneaks out at night to meet him.
However, the aunt manages to force the girl into marrying a man of higher military rank. The marriage transforms her from a happy young girl into a sad, somewhat withdrawn lady. Then her soldier returns...
The plot isn't really what makes the movie special; it's the photography. The melancholy summer evenings are captured wonderfully in this film. The quality of the photography is what elevates the film above an ordinary melodrama. If you ever get the chance, see it.