Himlaspelet

This film is rarely seen in North America. As monumental a film as it is in Swedish film history (its influence on Bergman is notorious), it is almost never shown and is not available on DVD. I was lucky enough to have seen it as a child on the Radio-Canada (French) channel on a show called "Ciné-Club", in Québec in the fifties. It struck me then as an amazing supernatural epic but populist drama about life's meaning, in the grand tradition of "Peer Gynt". One scene stayed with me my whole life: The farmer, grown older, richer and bitter, throws a party to flaunt his wealth and nobody shows up but the lame and moribund. Whatever the originality of the film and the play it's based on (written by its star, actor Rune Lindström), this 1942 film plays in many ways like an instant remake of the American classic "The Devil and Daniel Webster" (William Dieterle, 1941). The party scene, in particular, is eerily similar in content, mood and structure to that of the American film, besides the other more obvious common traits in plot (a poor farmer makes a deal with the devil) between the two films. These two films are so similar, in fact, that this should be mentioned in the "Movie Connections" link of both films in the IMDb. Just a thought... It's amazing to think that such an idiosyncratic piece of American mythology like the legend of Daniel Webster and the Devil should end up as part and parcel of the Swedish heritage, but there it is!

I was programmer of my college film club at St. John's College in Annapolis and showed Road to Heaven in the late fifties. It was well received. The hero's quest to find and confront God for his wife's death was obviously an influence on Bergman. I can't remember why I chose the film. We must have been doing a Scandinavian festival. We also showed Dryer's Ordet, Days of Wrath, Joan of Arc, and an early Bergman. Of Days of Heaven I have sharp memories of the beautiful folk art on the walls of the houses, a beautiful score and glorious b/w cinematography. It is a shame it's not on DVD. Perhaps there is one in Sweden. If so it's worth getting it.