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.
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.
