A film can be a big hit and even recognised as important by future historians, yet the benefits of its success can be quite different for main people involved. That happened with The Saga of Gösta Berling, 1924 period romantic epic directed by Mauritz Stiler, often considered to be the last grand classic of Swedish silent cinema.
The film is based on the eponymous 1891 debut novel of Nobel Prize-winning author Selma Lagerlöf. The plot is set in Swedish region of Värmland in 1820s. The protagonist, played by Lars Hanson, is Gösta Berling, Lutheran priest with dashing looks and talent for rousing sermons. On the other hand, his love of bottle and tendency to speak his mind and insult parishioners ultimately leaves him defrocked. After being forced to roam the roads, Berling finds job at the estate of aristocrat Märtha Dohna (played by Ellen Hartman-Cederström) where he tutors her stepdaughter Ebba (played by Mona Mårtenson) who immediately falls in love with a dashing man. This is something Märtha encourages, because his son Henrik (played by Thorsten Hammarén) returns from Italy after marrying impoverished Countess Elizabeth (played by Greta Garbo); the only way Henrik could inherit the estate is for his half-sister to marry a commoner. Ebba’s engagement with Berling ends when the scheme is revealed. Berling finds shelter at nearby estate of Ekeby, owned by Margaretha Semzelius (played by Gerda Lundequist), wife of Major Semzelius (played by Otto Elg-Lundberg) and unofficial “ruler” of the region. She has gathered group of so-called “Knights” at Ekeby, men who spend all their time drinking, carousing and having fun, but also providing entertainment at Margaretha’s banquets. Berling becomes the most distinguished of all “Knights”, but his good looks make different fall in love with him, usually with bad or tragic consequences.
The most epic thing about The Saga of Gösta Berling is its length, which is over three hours. Originally released in two parts, it proved to be a big hit, not only in native Sweden, but also in other European countries. Much of that could be credited to director Mauritz Stiller, one of pioneers of Swedish cinema who faithfully brought content of Lagerlöf’s novel to the screen, including number of different characters and subplots, while maintaining reasonable tempo and allowing audience to pick up different strands. Apart from few tracking shots, occasional close up and extensive use of flashbacks, Stiller doesn’t offer anything particularly new to standards of 1920s silent cinema, yet he directs film with great deal of competence, except, perhaps near the end when he has to depict catastrophic fire and characters running from wolves in the night. Those scenes give away film’s age a little bit, but not as much as overacting typical for silent cinema. This is especially the case with Lars Hanson, whose use of makeup will create problems with suspension of disbelief with some of the modern audience. The rest of the cast is more than solid and Gerda Lundequist shines in what is one of the best acting performances of silent cinema.
On the other hand, Greta Garbo, the best known member of the cast, is ironically the least impressive. Fans of future Hollywood icon would be somewhat surprised to see Swedish actress, who was 19 at the time, not particularly glamorous nor playing particularly big part in the film. Yet, even that performance was enough for Garbo to become interesting to non-Swedish film makers, leading to her role in German classic The Joyless Street next year. Hollywood was even more impressed and Stiller, Hanson and Garbo all received invitations to continue their careers there. Hanson initially used his dashing looks well as leading man in couple of hits, but arrival of sound films soon made his heavy Swedish accent a liability, after which he returned home. Stiller was less fortunate, unable to adapt to more rigid Hollywood studio system and his career quickly ended. Garbo, on the other hand, not only survived transition to sound, but actually became one of the most iconic film actresses of 20th Century.
Like with many films made in silent era, original version of The Saga of Gösta Berling was soon after premiere shortened more manageable two hours. Some segments of the original were lost, but in 1975 and 2008 there were two major restorations resulting in most common version nowadays being over three hours. Lagerlöf’s novel was again adapted in 1986 as six-part miniseries starring Thommy Berggren in title role.
RATING: 7/10 (+++)
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