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Apparently suppressed to legitimized the De Laurentis-Anthony Quinn movie drawn from the same Pär Lagerkvist novel, this Swedish master piece comes in a run of outstanding films which made Sjöberg one of the great film makers. Unfortunately, like contemporaries Pietro Germi or Helmut Kaütner his work was not highlighted by critics (which tells you something about the process) and Sjöberg was totally overshadowed by Ingmar Bergman, with whom his career was interlaced. Bergman wrote some of the Sjöberg films. They later alternated National Theatre productions.

BARABBAS is one of Sjöberg's best and most daring productions. Though realized on a small scale, it manages to get through all the extreme material of the Biblical spectacles of the day - violent sex, lepers, the killing of the prosecutor while the woman is stoned, messy crucifixions. It has a realism in it's costuming and staging (the brothel sequence is particularly savage) and great performances - notably by Palme, the director's regular leading man.

With this, the film puts forward a complex argument, centering on the simple minded thief's trying to comprehend Christ, along with a striking structure where light changes indicated passing of time and the same shot represents different occasions.

Two great cameramen contribute.

Nobel prize winner Par Lagerkvist speculates in the character and destiny of the thief and murderer Barabbas, who by the will of the people was liberated to let Christ be crucified and executed in his stead. It's a gloomy tale. After his liberation he returns to his wild life among thieves, murderers, prostitutes and other criminals and is caught up by justice and brought to slave duty in the copper mines of Cyprus, where he meets a fellow prisoner who is a Christian. Barabbas tries to understand his colleague's Christianity but fails to acquire some sincere faith but becomes formally a Christian anyway. When his fellow prisoner is punished and crucifiedf for his faith, Barabbas is let free once again because he confesses to his disbelief. He just can't believe, and that's his fate and constant problem. One could call the story 'an atheist's gospel', for not even in the end, when he has helped to set fire to Rome and is crucified as a Christian for that crime, he can't recognise Christ or God or any god. He dies as he lived in darkness.

Of course it's a precarious project to make a film on such a depressive book, and nevertheless another film was made some years later on the same book with Anthony Quinn as Barabbas, which didn't make the story any better. This film is better, though, than the late remake, it is in black and white with exquisite photography all the way (Sven Nykvist), and an abundance of scenes are reallky striking for their scenographic artistry and dramatic quality - Alf Sjöberg was above all a dramtist and (as Ingmar Bergman confessed in his memoirs) a better director than he himself. The dramatic quality is prominent in all his films. Here he uses splendid actors to bring life to a rather morbid tale - and succeeds, because of the great visual imagination, making almost every scene a visual drama in itself. The sequences from Israel are the most interesting and valuable ones, while the story later on gets a little muddled up in Rome, although the actor playing St. Peter (Nils Srrandmark) also makes a great and convincing performance. Ulf Palme as Barabbas is the chief actor, though, leading the performance, and as soon as he is out of the picture you miss him.

The main asset of the film is the fantastic oftentimes expressionistic scenography of high dramatic qualirty, while you will find plenty of arguments of objection against the speculative construction of this tale, alhough it could be Par Lagerkvist's greatest novel.

Nothing more easy than define it as masterpiece. For the faithfull adaptation of Par Lagerkvist novel. For admirabe performance of. Uf Palme,Inge Waern and Olof Widgren. For Expresionism touch defining scene by scene. Not the less, for message.

Indeed , the love for book is the basic reason to appreciate this film. And the fair solutions for recreate essential dialogues . Not the last, for Alf Sjoberg gift to explore a life in its profound fragility , defined by thirst to believe , the falls, the death of close ones in the name of Son of God and the final mistake who seems put things in order.

Superior to each other adaptation of Barabbas by Lagerkvist, it remains one great films - poem.