Réalisation:
Victor SjöströmScénario:
Victor SjöströmPhotographie:
Julius JaenzonActeurs·trices:
Victor Sjöström, Hilda Borgström, Tore Svennberg, Astrid Holm, Concordia Selander, Lisa Lundholm, Tor Weijden, Einar Axelsson, Olof Ås, Nils Arehn (plus)Résumés(1)
The last person to die on New Year’s Eve before the clock strikes twelve is doomed to take the reins of Death’s chariot and work tirelessly collecting fresh souls for the next year. So says the legend that drives The Phantom Carriage (Körkarlen), directed by the father of Swedish cinema, Victor Sjöström, about an alcoholic, abusive ne’er-do-well (Sjöström himself) who is shown the error of his ways and the pure-of-heart Salvation Army sister who believes in his redemption. (texte officiel du distributeur)
(plus)Critiques (3)
We often encounter the works of Selma Lagerlöf, the Nobel Prize winner in Literature, in cinema. Until the end of the golden era, Victor Sjöström and Mauritz Stiller were the most prominent individuals to adapt her work. Sjöström also discovered her for the film medium and often played the lead in her stories. Although I have grown much more fond of Stiller's competing projects Sir Arne's Treasure and The Saga of Gösta Berling, The Phantom Carriage cannot, of course, be completely ignored. It’s a suggestive modern film that manages to pull the viewer along and give them a heart attack from more intense terror than any of today's trash. The film is about the atmosphere and fascination with the ancient story of one of the first human fears.
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In terms of atmosphere, visual effects and its very groundbreaking story structure, there is nothing to fault considering the year this film came out. The chilling story full of mystical and fantastical images is told in a very original way and, together with its very depressing premise, it manages to keep our full attention, although the monotonous (but not unsuccessful) music starts to put us to sleep after a while and a few scenes have no narrative value at all – the line of the remembrance of the hero's evil deeds, in particular, lacks the poetry and imagination of the rest of the film. Nevertheless, this is an important work of cinema, making great use of minimalist means to evoke very strong emotional and thought experiences. Plus, I finally saw where the axe breaking through a door first appeared in cinema – a familiar scene from the cult classic The Shining... :)) 80%
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I can't quite understand how it is possible that this film didn't make it into the publication "101 Horror Movies You Must See Before You Die." It absolutely deserves a place in it because the atmosphere presented is incredibly dark. It is a precursor to dark horror films and can easily shine alongside such works as The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari or Nosferatu. I am glad that I learned about the film nonetheless and that I could watch those beautiful shots because double exposure has perhaps never been more perfect. The soul rising from the body while the body still lies there looks simply perfect. The interesting narrative style - retrospective with a deeper retrospection - only confirms the significance and uniqueness of this Swedish piece.
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