Körkarlen (1921)

User Rating:

7.9/10   

Director:

Victor Sjöström

Writers:

Selma Lagerlöf (novel)
Victor Sjöström (writer)

Release Date:

4 June 1922 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Horror

Plot:

It's New Year's Eve. Three drunkards evoke a legend. The legend tells that the last person to die in a year...

Plot Keywords:

Chariot | Dying Woman | Ghost Story | Runaway Wife | Alcoholic

Cast

Victor Sjöström	...	David Holm
Hilda Borgström	...	Mrs. Holm
Tore Svennberg	...	Georges
Astrid Holm	...	Edit
Concordia Selander	...	Edit's Mother
Lisa Lundholm	...	Maria
Tor Weijden	...	Gustafsson
Einar Axelsson	...	David's Brother
Olof Ås	...	Driver
Nils Ahrén	...	Prison Chaplain
Simon Lindstrand	...	David's Companion
Nils Elffors	...	David's Companion
Algot Gunnarsson	...	Worker
Hildur Lithman	...	Worker's wife
John Ekman	...	Police constable

Also Known As:

The Phantom Carriage
The Phantom Chariot
The Stroke of Midnight
Thy Soul Shall Bear Witness

Runtime:

93 min | Germany:100 min | Sweden:107 min (16 fps) (2004 TV version)

Country:

Sweden

Language:

Swedish

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Silent

Certification:

Iceland:L | Sweden:15

Filming Locations:

Svensk Filmindustri, Filmstaden, Råsunda, Stockholms län, Sweden

Company:

Svensk Filmindustri (SF)

Trivia:

Ingmar Bergman watched this film at the very least once every summer; either alone or in company of younger people. He also stated that this film, to him, was once "the film of all films", and that this film was a main influence on his own work.

Quotes:

David Holm: What can I do? What are the words, the prayer - the words?
David Holm: [prays] A sinner whose lips are stained with wickedness, asks, beseeches - Oh, break me, crush me, only save these three innocent ones!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Det sjunde inseglet (1957)

This film is a masterpiece to put it simply.

This film is a masterpiece to put it simply. Especially the double exposure made by the cameraman Julius Jaenzon. It is skillfully made even with the standards we are used to today seventy eight years later. Viktor Sjöström, the director, also plays the main character, David Holm. On the night of new years eve he is killed in a fight, and the legend says that the first one who dies on the new year, will have to work as a soul-collector in the form of a transparent ghost. There is a new soul-collector to be appointed every year.

The scene in which the alcoholic, David Holm, rises up from his dead body (like the soul is leaving his earthly body) in the churchyard (where the fight took place) is a real award for a filmloving eye. Also when the present soul-collector arrives with his horse and carriage is a beautiful but also a scary scene. David Holm recognizes this soul-collector as a drinkingfriend from earlier life. It is now his turn to take over. Just like Scrooge in Dickens story "A christmas tale", David is shown what his life and doings has led to for the people around him.

The film is about the danger of abusing drugs, in this case alcohol. It is based upon a book by Nobel prize winner Selma Lagerlöf. Viktor Sjöström filmed a few more of her books, but this is the one with the best outcome, maybe because this book is the most filmic of them.