The Phantom Carriage (1921) Körkarlen (original title)

Director:

Victor Sjöström

Writers:

Selma Lagerlöf (novel)
Victor Sjöström

Release Date:

4 June 1922 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Fantasy | 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:

Alcoholic | Fight | Chariot | Cemetery | Salvation

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 Aréhn	...	Prison Chaplain
Simon Lindstrand	...	David's Companion
Nils Elffors	...	David's Companion
Algot Gunnarsson	...	Worker
Hildur Lithman	...	Worker's wife
John Ekman	...	Police constable
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Edvin Adolphson	...	Man at the inn (uncredited)
Elof Ahrle	...	Ung man (uncredited)
Emmy Albiin	...	Tuberculosis Patient (uncredited)
Anna-Lisa Baude	...	Salvation Army Soldier (uncredited)
Josua Bengtson	...	Gambler (uncredited)
Helga Brofeldt	...	Waitress (uncredited)
Julia Cæsar	...	(uncredited)
Mona Geijer-Falkner	...	Waitress (uncredited)
Carl Harald	...	Man at the inn (uncredited)
Arthur Natorp	...	Salvation Army Soldier (uncredited)
Fridolf Rhudin	...	Young man (uncredited)
Signe Wirff	...	Waitress (uncredited)

Directed by
Victor Sjöström

Writing credits
Selma Lagerlöf		(novel)
Victor Sjöström

Produced by
Charles Magnusson	....	producer (uncredited)

Cinematography by
Julius Jaenzon		(as J. Julius)

Art Direction by
Alexander Bako		(uncredited)
Axel Esbensen		(uncredited)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Arthur Engborg	....	assistant director (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Carl-Axel Söderström	....	assistant camera

Production Companies

• Svensk Filmindustri (SF)

Distributors

• Svensk Filmindustri (SF) (1921) (Sweden) (theatrical)
• Decla-Bioscop AG (1921) (Germany) (theatrical)
• Metro Pictures Corporation (1922) (USA) (theatrical)
• Tartan Video (2007) (UK) (DVD)
• Criterion Collection, The (2011) (USA) (DVD)
• Grapevine Video (????) (USA) (VHS)
• Redemption Films (1994) (UK) (VHS)

Also Known As:

"Körkarlen" - Sweden (original title)

Runtime:

93 min | Germany:100 min | Sweden:107 min (16 fps) (2004 TV version) | 103 min (original release) (18 fps)

Country:

Sweden

Language:

Swedish

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Silent

Certification:

Sweden:15 | Iceland:L | UK:U (DVD rating) | USA:Not Rated

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 The Seventh Seal (1957)

a classic

One of the best silent dramas I've seen. As dark and shadowy as anything the German Expressionists produced, but featuring performances that were quite understated and naturalistic for the day. No camera mugging and no unintentional laughs due to wild-eyed arm-waving histrionics. Sjostrom gave a convincing performance as the drunken, mean-spirited and frightening David Holm.

Set mostly at night in a dingy Swedish slum, the film had a very claustrophobic set-bound feel to it, aided by the low key lighting and extensive use of irising.

There was a deep, and typically Scandinavian, sense of despair and hopelessness to the narrative: the film begins in a rather grim present, and then we're told David Holm's story in a series of flashbacks (and flashbacks within flashbacks--a pretty complex story structure for 1921), where his character is offered numerous chances at redemption, but he doesn't take them, and we know he won't take them, because we've seen him die drunk and wretched and mean as ever in the present. The penultimate scene is as dark as any I have seen in all of cinema.

The writing and directing is tight and intelligent, even by today's standards. In several instances, Sjostrom skillfully sets the audience up to suspect one thing, and then pulls out a surprise. The ending might not be such a surprise to some viewers, but I didn't see it coming.

This movie deserves a full restoration and DVD release. Or even a crappy budget release. It just needs to be out there so people can see and appreciate it.

9.5/10, which rounds up to 10/10