Les Proscrits

This film was Victor Sjöströms international break-through and it's not hard to understand why. It wasn't the first time Sjöström had used the wild and unpredictable nature as an illustrator or commentator, but this time the scenery and the acting was in the same level of quality. A wonderful piece of art.

On my continued journey through silent film from the early 20th century, this is my favorrite one yet. I found the changing colors much less distracting, and at points even felt like the colors added to the tone of the scene. I particularly enjoyed the costumes in this film, and found the plot much easier to follow than other films of this category. I enjoyed seeing a strong female character, unlike in 'A Man There Was'. There are both laughs and cries throughout this film, and the ending I thought was beautiful. The title cards consisted of more dialogue than I'd seen in previous films, which helped to make the plot more understandable.

I have waited for years to see this film and finally caught it on Youtube - in excellent condition. It was definitely worth the wait! The film was made in 1918, a time when most cinema consisted of small segments of celluloid patched together with the standard melodramatic or comedic situations, clumsily filmed indoors on make-shift sets. This is absolutely nothing of the kind although it took Hollywood what seemed an eternity to figure out that a movie could, indeed, be shot out in the open with great success. Several reviewers have mentioned some sort of connection with early Westerns made by directors of little artistic talent and less scope. Actually, this film has nothing whatsoever to deal with standard plots with famous actors. The plot is extremely simple, as it should be in this case, and all - virtually all - of the over-the-board overacting and the theatrical motions and over-emotions suppressed, with natural gestures replacing them in natural settings...and what beautiful settings they are! No, there aren't any tied-together happy ends around and little to titillate the audience, villains with mustaches or any of the standard American clichés here. The film is Scandinavian, filmed and acted by Scandinavians, shot in North Sweden far, far away from the ole corral. I don't know how well the director, Victor Sjostrom, was acquainted with American cinema at the time - there wasn't really much of anything of much value going except from Griffith and one or two others, but the film borrows nothing and invents everything for its own uses. The cinema up there created a universe of its own, albeit a harsh one. Bergman would follow fifty years later. This was a welcome hour or so spent in the company of people who made some astoundingly good films and this is certainly one of them.

Curtis Stotlar

Berg-Ejvind Och Hans Hustru / The Outlaw and His Wife (1918) : Brief Review -

A tragic love story of an Icelandic outlaw with a groundbreaking filming process. The first thing you should know about The Outlaw and His Wife is that it's a groundbreaking film when it comes to cinematography and the shooting process. It was groundbreaking for its portrayal of wild nature, as it was shot in two sessions in the spring and late summer. We modern audiences and critics talk about Richard Linklater's "Boyhood" (2014) for its long filming process that took 12 years or something, but how many of us ever discuss old treasures like this? We should, and I am doing my part today. Victor Sjöström's silent romantic tragedy has everything that makes for a good watch. The storyline is exactly what any romantic melodrama will have. It has emotion and that love factor working as the USPs throughout the narrative. At one point, I thought it was trying to be philosophical, but then everything went as planned, and believe me, I was hoping it would behave like a film made 104 years ago. A stranger comes to work at widow Halla's farm. She falls in love and he shares her feelings, but their happiness is cut short by God or destiny, whatever you call it, as his haunting past strikes with new challenges. Halla learns about Eyvind's past and yet decides to follow him for life. What challenges she had to face in the marriage and how they both tackled them is all that you get to see in The Outlaw and His Wife. Victor Sjöström's film seems like an extremely expressionist film, as Victor Sjöström and Edith Erastoff both give such exorbitant expressions. Also, we can't forget the fact that the cinema of 1918 was like this, even if it was changing rapidly in the West. Nevertheless, the greatest Swedish director of its time makes sure that your time is worth spending on something. Love story and love tragedy lovers should definitely see this to know the true meaning of love.

RATING - 7/10*

By - #samthebestest.

(1918) The Outlaw and His Wife/ Berg-Ejvind och hans hustru SILENT DRAMA

Co-written, directed and starring Victor Sjöström, he plays an unknown drifter, Kari (Victor Sjöström) looking for work and ends up working at a farm, owned by Halla (Edith Erastoff). And as they begin to fall in love, it is then his past begins to catch up with him that his name is not Kari, but is really Eyvind suspected of escaping from prison. Adapted from the play "Eyvind of the Hills" by Jóhann Sigurjónsson.

A silent Swedish film that is reminiscent of a serious love story that has a complicated situation, that can be used as a basis for movies that come after it.