The Saga of Gosta Berling (1924) - Mauritz Stiller

Today this epic Swedish film has Greta Garbo plastered all over its cover, but the truth is she's a supporting player, and one that doesn't show up for quite awhile into the film. The title character is played by then huge film star Lars Hanson, who like Garbo and Stiller was brought to Hollywood. The picture is epic and is roughly two features put together. In this story you have a quick framing device to explain Gosta's defrocked priest who happens to be an alcoholic. Much to his credit though he happens to be irresistible to nearly all women so his lowly standing in society makes him the enemy of many a parent. He finds refuge in the house of Ekeby where a group of 12 "knights" sit around drinking eating and occasionally providing a little entertainment for the major and more specifically his wife. A few families are entwined here and almost all of them seem to have a similar situation. The picture was actually released in two parts and was conceived as something of a Swedish Die Nibelungen, namely a massive production to symbolize all that was great in Swedish film. I must say that the film falls short of greatness, but has the tag of forced greatness and modern audiences might not be that entertained. For all its novelistic tendencies and epic character arcs it can be considered something triumphant, and the last picture Garbo and Stiller would make in Sweden.