La Légende de Gösta Berling

For international admirers of Greta Garbo, The Saga of Gösta Berling (1924) can be a difficult film to find. For an audience accustomed to her Hollywood films, it is not easy to perceive the full context of the Swedish adaptations of the works of the Nobel Prize winner for Literature, Selma Lagerlöf, who was regularly discussed with great intensity by Victor Sjöström and Mauritz Stiller after 1917. The important thing is to see a copy offering both parts, nothing abridged for an American audience. Today's view of the film often skims over the magical connection between Stiller and Garbo, who guided her through all the pitfalls on her journey from Sweden via Germany to Hollywood but only had the opportunity to direct her once in America (and was replaced by Fred Nibble before The Temptress was finished...). Still, it's worth paying attention to other aspects of this excellent melodrama from the golden era of Swedish silent cinema; there's the great Lars Hanson, the fascinating atmosphere, and the closed world of people addicted to the freezing nature. From time to time it is good to indulge in it. (11/08/2017)