jsk32870 Not many people watch the old silent films these days, but for those that actually take the time to do so, sometimes, I think, those people carry a 'respect for the elderly' approach when assessing them. In other words, they give the film a certain degree of deference simply because the film is old. After watching "The Phantom Carriage," and seeing its lofty rating (currently 8.1/10), I think that is likely the case here. Having said that, going in I was fully prepared to like, or more probably, love The Phantom Carriage. I enjoy horror films in general and I have no qualms watching silent/old films, many are among my favorites. However, the films have to 'work' - or more simply - make sense, and this one just sadly does not. *Spoilers follow*The plot largely centers around a ne'er-do-well, David Holm, and the Salvation Army worker, Edit, who tries to help and redeem him. However, Edit shows an abnormal affection for and interest in David, despite only meeting him once or twice. Now, for one, there is no viable explanation for why Edit, the Salvation Army worker, should care SO MUCH for the miserable David; even to the point of proclaiming her love for this man that she knows literally nothing about, other than he is a contemptible misanthrope of the highest order. Hardly the stuff for inspiring undying love. So there is a real problem with that plot element that is never satisfactorily resolved or explained. Second, David's redemption comes about rather quickly, after witnessing his general barbarity for a good 90 minutes. Time and again he is shown to be an unfeeling brute, even to the point of carelessly endangering the lives of his own children. And then, in a flash, he is a new man. It's an incredibly quick turnaround for the cad that David was. Dickens handled this material much better in his "A Christmas Carol," a story that "The Phantom Carriage" borrows heavily from but never successfully duplicates.Other reviewers have mentioned the story structure itself is somewhat jumbled. I agree and it does not help the film. There are flashbacks, and flashbacks within flashbacks, and it becomes a bit of a chore to keep track of it. These flashbacks are not announced, mind you, you just have to sort of suddenly realize the scene you are watching is a flashback. This may have been different and revolutionary in 1921, so sure, it can be acknowledged, but does that mean it is worthy of fawning acclaim?The cinematography is superb for the time. The oft-mentioned double exposures used for the phantom carriage scenes are certainly noteworthy, and for that the film should be recognized as breaking new ground. But a classic or 'all-time great?' It is most certainly not. The issues outlined above keep it from attaining such a status. And although there were some inspired shots in the film, for really effective, harrowing scenes one must look no further than the next year's 'Nosferatu' - the vampire in that film truly was a chilling sight to see and is easily more memorable than anything in 'The Phantom Carriage.' Or, for just an all-around great film from 1921, Chaplin's 'The Kid' is infinitely more entertaining. 'The Phantom Carriage' is plodding, tedious and flawed by comparison.6/10. Sometimes a film is.....just a film and not much more. There's a reason why "The Kid" has 80k+ votes and "The Phantom Carriage" has only 7k. One is a masterpiece, and one is not. You guess which is which.

Sergeant_Tibbs It's undeniable that The Phantom Carriage's influence precedes itself. From its iconography of the grim reaper, it's Christmas Carol-esque tale of repentance, to echoes of Jack Nicholson chopping down the door in The Shining. If The Phantom Carriage is known for anything, it's for being Ingmar Bergman's source of inspiration for what his films would later muse upon. He would later recruit director and star Victor Sjostrom to lead on of his most acclaimed films Wild Strawberries. Of course, we already know how profound these concepts are nearly 100 years later and their importance is still imbedded in the film. It's fascinating to watch inventive techniques of translucence portrayed on screen too, though admittedly the prior year's Caligari is more impressive. Its real problem is undisciplined structure and its resulting poor pacing, but these are archaic issues of silent cinema that required a few years of trial and error. Nevertheless, the atmosphere is palpable, the ideas are timeless and it oozes with passion from Sjostrom, if not as nightmare worthy as the next year's Nosferatu.8/10

xiluozhou Swedish films and Scandinavian films in general, are known for stark landscapes and slow pacing. With the development of cinema and the technological and narrative development of film itself, Swedish films distinguished itself from the very beginning, which could be well illustrated from the film of Victor Sjöström.First shown in 1896 in Malmö, films came into Sweden's society. It was during the 1930s that going to the movies became a common form of popular entertainment, a circumstance that is reflected in production statistics: in 1929 only six Swedish films premiered, whereas by 1939 the number has grown to thirty-one. (Wright, 1998 pp1-2) When Svenska Biografteatern moved from Kristianstad to Lidingö in 1911, which had two star directors: Victor Sjöström and Mauritz Stiller, Swedish filmmaking rose to international prominence. But an early debate soon spread.On Nov.13th 1913, Victor Sjöström's famous film—Ingeborg Holm was shown in Stockholm, which had provoked a furious debate in the press. The headline in Stockholm daily Dagens Nyheter read 'poor relief under attack at the movies'. Meanwhile, a poor relief inspector penned an angry article in Stockholm Dagblad entitled 'unwholesome cinematography'. On the other side, a defensive rebuttal stressed the intention of Ingeborg Holm to depict conditions in rural areas, as opposed to Stockholm, while maintaining that the film industry had a responsibility to promote social progress. (Florin, 2003, pp 61) The debate actually spawned 1918 amendments to Sweden's poor relief law. On the one hand, we do see an early illustration of the impact that film can have on the world around it; on the other hand, the government agency for film censorship did play an indefensible role at that time.Despite of the debate, and while being labeled as one of the pre-classic film, Ingeborg Holm is a shining example of staging in depth. According to Barry Salt, this film has a dramatic depth and power resulting almost entirely from the handling of narrative and acting that is superior to anything. (Olsson, 1994, pp 117) For example, the staging of Sven's death very consciously utilizes the two planes of depth in the take. While Sven dies in the foreground, the rest of family is involved with other things in the room beyond, unaware of what has happened. When Ingeborg comes to the bed, we can confirm the reflection of her. This is quite fit to the definition of narration by Bordwell, which is the process whereby the film's syuzhet and style interact in the course of cueing and channeling the spectator's construction of fabula. (Bordwell, 1985, pp 53) The success of Victor Sjöström can't be a single phenomenon. At that time, the film industry developed quickly in Sweden. Svenska Biografteatern, as one of the oldest Swedish film company, was founded in 1907. After moving to Lidingö, it had a considerably large studio (20*7 meters). Meanwhile, they used the distribution network of Pathe Freres. And the First World War happened to be convenient to Svenska Bio. The war caused a scarcity of film in the countries involved and the Swedes were also favored politically by the fact that their competitor Denmark's previously popular films were rejected by the allies due to its close connection with Germany. (Soila, 1998, pp 150) Sjöström's film Terje Vigen succeeded in that period, which is not only a major artistic triumph for Svenska Biografteatern and everyone who contributed to its making, but it is likely to lend Swedish industry an illustrious international reputation.(Florin, 2003, pp 64) And in Gothenburg, Hasselbald, as the biggest competitor to Svenska Bio in Sweden at that time, with other film companies, formed the new Filmindustri Inc Skandia in 1918, which introduced a number of new directors who were to remain in the industry for many years. In 1921, after petition for bankruptcy, the large amounts of Skandinavisk's assets also went Svensk Filmindustri.In 1921, Victor Sjöström's film The phantom Carriage was shown. Not only did it turn out to be the golden age's most sophisticated production, but it boasted of a plot that flung wide the doors to timeless and legend. (Florin, 2003 pp 74) A lot of methods have been used in this film to give it narrative richness, like the camera-work, the use of flashbacks and the ability to reproduce the mood of the Selma Lagerlöf tale. Especially, the double exposures in the film are still stunning by virtue of their effectiveness and brilliant execution.The technical perfection in the film like creating a feeling of dizziness, literally forging a connection between the world of here and now and an unknown, mysterious realm the dissolves work as analogy, are all due to the long period of post-production. The phantom carriage allowed the ghost characters to walk around in three dimensions, being able to first be covered by an object in the foreground, but when in the same take walking up in front of the object; it would be seen through the ghost's semi-transparent body. According to the Swedish Film Institute, one difficulty in the film was that cameras were hand-waved, meaning that the camera had to be waved with exactly the same speed in the different layers for the end result to appear natural.If the dissolves represent the most compact visual tokens of transformation in the film, that is also its most recurrent theme. At the beginning he appears to be evil. In the following sequences, we see him as dead and then as a spirit, revealing that he had once been a good person. Resurrected, he recovers his original virtue. a chronological recapitulation of those events at the level of plot would go as follows exemplary husband and father, boozer, corpse spirit, resurrected and again righteous.The phantom carriage has such a influence that latter, Ingmar Bergman said he watch it once a year. The great influence of a masterpiece, that may be the real reason for people always feel nostalgic to the era labeled as GOLDEN.

SukkaPunch 1921's The Phantom Carriage is one of the many silent films I have viewed and enjoyed over the years. However, there is something that sets this film apart from the other great pieces of cinema which I have enjoyed. The story revolves around a variety of characters that are connected in some way to David Holm, (Victor Sjöström) a vile man who suffers from both tuberculosis and alcoholism. Holm is not only violent to his wife and children, but also actively tries to spread his illness to others. The film's first mentioning of him is from a dying woman who requests to see him before she passes away. Initially the audience is unsure what her relation with David Holm is; however as time passes we begin to learn that she was a Salvation Army parishioner who once looked over the homeless David Holm. Throughout this, the audience learns of the myth of Körkarlen i.e.: The Phantom Carriage. The viewer learns that at the end of every year the last evil person to die is damned to spend one year driving a carriage playing the role of death by reaping every soul who dies in the world for one year. After a fight which ends in Holm receiving a serious injury, David meets with the previous year's carriage driver and they discuss some of his wrong doings. The film is shot amazingly well, using creative camera angles and effective uses of fades, cross dissolves and double exposures. All of these things give the user an eerie feeling throughout the entire movie, as well as a sense of urgency as the dying Salvation Army parishioner moves closer and closer to her dying hour. The film effectively tells its story through uses of flashbacks, as well as through focusing on several characters, instead of just one. The film's story is similar to that of Dicken's A Christmas Carol, but has a far darker tone, as some of David's violent actions, as well as some of the carriage driver's duties are shown to the viewer in ways that are more direct than in A Chirstmas Carol. David Holm's attack on his family with an axe and attempts to give his children tuberculosis are good examples of this. The film can be accused of being a little bit preachy at times. The film makes no attempts to hide its anti-alcohol message, but this was after all filmed in an era where most countries were experiencing at least some measures of alcohol prohibition. Additionally, the film does have a very strong Christian tone to it, but it is far from being so preachy as to chase away a non-Christian viewer. When viewing the film, it is best that the viewer remembers that this film is a representation of the values and morals of the era which it was recorded in, not necessarily an attempt to tell the viewer how to live his or her lives. In its entirety The Phantom Carriage is a great film that was years ahead of its time. It is a film which is certainly on par with some of the finest pieces of cinema ever created. I believe that The Phantom Carrage can appeal to almost every viewer, even those who are not typically interested in silent films. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED, if you haven't seen it yet, then do so.