#korkarlen

[filmforfancy]

The Phantom Carriage (1921) dir. Victor Sjöström.

[linaiswatching-blog]

THE PHANTOM CARRIAGE (1921)

[jasonsutekh]

Korkarlen (The Phantom Carriage) (1921)

A man who has led a bad life of tormenting his wife and children dies on New Year’s Eve and a spectre of death shows him why he is going to suffer for it.

 The style of this story has obvious parallels to the narrative of A Christmas Carol; there are dire warnings about wrongdoings, trips across the culprit’s timeline, and the grim spectre of death. The main omission is that it’s on New Year’s Eve rather than Christmas Eve and there’s only one guiding ghost. The flashbacks within flashbacks kept it interesting and made an otherwise simple story a little more complex.

 It wasn’t as engaging as adaptations of Christmas Carol because it’s a great deal slower in pace, having many parts rather than the clearer three sections and each part is fairly repetitive in what it conveys, often just reiterating how horrible he treats his wife. This leaves it dragging in many places, even for a silent film, lengthened greatly by repetition.

 The editing style was one of the most notable aspects of the film. Overlaying the images made the spirits seem present without presence which was effective. The music was also useful, descending into a cacophony of discordant notes whenever the spirits entered or moved about and becoming more dominant whenever there was violence.

 The ending wasn’t as satisfying as it could have been because it relied too heavily on religious messages rather than ones of strict morality. The main character also doesn’t actually do anything to change, there’s only his word that he wants to which could easily be for show to gain sympathy, an idea reinforced by the fact that he lies while conveying his willingness to be better.

 3/10 -This one’s bad but it has some good in it, just there-

[twosentencereviews]

The Phantom Carriage: 6/10

(Original title: Korkarlen)

For a silent film, the double-exposure special effects are impressive. But to a modern eye, the pacing of it’s “Christmas Carol” plot of ghostly redemption is unbearably slow.

[enterfilm]

KÖRKARLEN (Victor Sjöström, 1921)

[enterfilm]

KÖRKARLEN (Victor Sjöström, 1921) THE SHINING (Stanley Kubrick, 1980)

[screamscenepodcast]

Körkarlen (1921, Victor Sjöström) Discussed in Episode Nine of Scream Scene: “David Holm is a Jerk” https://screamscenepodcast.tumblr.com/post/160535780464/legend-dictates-that-the-last-soul-to-die-on-new

[in-the-half-light]

00:53:46,65

körkarlen

(victor sjöström, 1921)