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 The marriage transforms her from a happy young girl into a sad, somewhat withdrawn lady.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.
