"Korkarlen", or "The Phantom Carriage", is a milestone in Swedish cinema. It was a favourite film of Ingmar Bergman, and featured ground breaking special effects to represent the supernatural, and a plot filled with unprecedented complications. All movie goers are familiar with flashbacks; this 1921 work uses flashbacks within flashbacks.
The film's superstition states that the last person to die on New Years Eve must spend the next year gathering souls for Death in a lonely carriage. Edit, a Salvation Army sister, lies on her death bed with one last wish: that David Holm, the man she prayed for, should come to see her so she can see if her prayers were answered. He is first visited by the ghost of Georges, a man who died last New Years Eve and is now gathering souls.
Along with flashbacks, the film makes liberal use of transparency of characters - and their carriage - to represent the afterlife. At one point we see the Phantom Carriage gliding over water to collect the soul of a man who has just drowned.
Death is represented by the "ghost", or transparent actor, rising from the prone body of the deceased, the same actor lying still and opaque. I'm not sure if this is the first movie to use this effect; if it is, it deserves recognition. It reminded me immediately of Patrick Swayze's "Ghost", made some 70 years later. This effect has served filmmakers well.
If all of this sounds confusing, unfortunately, that is because it is. I was well on board for "Korkarlen" for its first half. However, in the second I lost interest, tired of keeping up with its constant doubling back on itself. "Korkarlen" is an example of the phrase that we only know what is enough when we know what is more than enough. It pointed the way for special effects and flashback scenes, and perhaps also demonstrated why the latter should not be overused.
The film's superstition states that the last person to die on New Years Eve must spend the next year gathering souls for Death in a lonely carriage. Edit, a Salvation Army sister, lies on her death bed with one last wish: that David Holm, the man she prayed for, should come to see her so she can see if her prayers were answered. He is first visited by the ghost of Georges, a man who died last New Years Eve and is now gathering souls.
Along with flashbacks, the film makes liberal use of transparency of characters - and their carriage - to represent the afterlife. At one point we see the Phantom Carriage gliding over water to collect the soul of a man who has just drowned.
Death is represented by the "ghost", or transparent actor, rising from the prone body of the deceased, the same actor lying still and opaque. I'm not sure if this is the first movie to use this effect; if it is, it deserves recognition. It reminded me immediately of Patrick Swayze's "Ghost", made some 70 years later. This effect has served filmmakers well.
If all of this sounds confusing, unfortunately, that is because it is. I was well on board for "Korkarlen" for its first half. However, in the second I lost interest, tired of keeping up with its constant doubling back on itself. "Korkarlen" is an example of the phrase that we only know what is enough when we know what is more than enough. It pointed the way for special effects and flashback scenes, and perhaps also demonstrated why the latter should not be overused.