The Outlaw and His Wife (Victor Sjostrom, 1918): Sweden

Reviewed by Byron Potau.  Viewed on DVD.

Perhaps, best known these days for playing the professor in Ingmar Bergman’s Wild Strawberries, Victor Sjostrom, along with Mauritz Stiller, put Swedish cinema on the map.  In 1918 Sjostrom directed and starred in this impressive film, The Outlaw and His Wife, which was further evidence of Sweden’s rising status in world cinema.

The film follows Kari (Victor Sjostrom), a wanderer in the hills looking for work.  He meets Arnes (John Ekman) who leads him to Halla’s farm where Kari finds work.  Soon Kari and Halla (Edith Erastoff) are in love, much to the displeasure of the land greedy Bailiff (Nils Ahren) who is also Halla’s former brother in law who wants to marry Halla himself so he can increase his land ownership.  When a man recognizes Kari as Ejvind, an escaped outlaw from another town, Kari and Halla flee to the hills.  After several peaceful years in the mountains, Arnes wanders into their home and they are a happy trio, but not for long.

Age has literally taken a toll on the negative in a few spots, but the film is still a beautiful and powerful story and the themes are astonishingly relevant and moving.  Sjostrom makes incredible use of the landscape with breathtaking cinematography from Julius Jaenzon, far ahead of what other directors were doing with landscape. 

What are most impressive are the very real interactions and conflicts that arise within the characters and between them.  Sjostrom brings a great understanding to these characters, their passions, their flaws and we can see their struggles within.  The acting across the board is excellent, but Sjostrom must be commended for doing it both in front of the camera and behind it. 

The Outlaw and His Wife is not as well known as many other silent films, but I think one would be surprised how modern it feels.  It is an excellent film and has a place among the many great silent classics.