ISMN: "The Phantom Carriage" (1921) Saturday Aug 21st @ 7:30 PM
DVD/93 Mins/B&W/Swedish Title Cards with Subtitles/Not Rated
I don't have time to write much other than this is one of the greatest silent films of all time. Very well paced with a fantastic storyline - BC
Storyline from IMDB:
It's New Year's Eve. Three drunkards evoke a legend. The legend tells that the last person to die in a year, if he is a great sinner, will have to drive during the whole year the Phantom Chariot, the one that picks up the souls of the dead... David Holm, one of the three drunkards, dies at the last stroke of midnight... Written by Yepok
Author: plaidpotato from United States
19 December 2002
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
Best silent movie I've ever seen
Author: peter_olsson_1 from Höör, Sweden
11 September 2003
The best silent movie I've ever seen. It's so harrowing and perfectly describes the feelings I've had about death, life, love and especially hope. It's optimistic ending makes it even stronger. I cried when I saw this movie the first time, which was the day after my grandfather's death.
He once told me this was the first movie he ever saw, in a cinema, to which there was a 10 kilometers walk in the snow. The cinema used to be so crowded the humidity got so high the walls were completely wet. Naturally I had a lot in mind that day. It wasn't the first time I saw the movie, but the first time I experienced it's meaning completely. I've never seen any silent film like this and that it's silent actually makes it scarier.
(Above: The Shining and The Phantom Carriage compared)
From Amazon.com:
FIVE STARS:
I don't know too many silents that have the impact of this one. It is superb and the supporting materials are the usual for Criterion, outstanding. Don't pass on this one, if you have any interest in Swedish or silent films.
One of the best movies of all time
Author: kris-oak from Sweden
7 November 2010
This is perhaps among the best movies ever made. If you rent it or buy it, and take the time to see it you will never regret it. If you are tired of reviews, you can stop reading here....now run along and get it.
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Bonus Short Film:
Plague Summer (1953)
Hollis Frampton's "Pan 3" (1972)
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Time: Aug. 21st @ 7:30 PM
Place: Northpoint in SLC (private location message me for info)
Free!
Friends and horderves welcome.
See you tonight!
-BC Sterrett
