Organ symphony of cinema/“Furman of Death”/The Tale of the Phantom Chauffeur

In the silent film era, Scandinavian cinema was a “cultural brand”. It inspired European filmmakers and successfully found itself across the ocean, arousing the enthusiasm of audiences and critics. Expressive (like Scandinavian landscapes), strict (like Protestant ethics), and at the same time inclined to artistic exploration — it set standards that remain in the history of cinema to this day. When watching Furman of Death — a Swedish film from 1921 — let's remember the giant of world cinema, Ingmar Bergman. Why? Director Victor Sjöström was also an outstanding actor and 36 years after making his film, in which he stars as the disturbing David Holm, he created Professor Borg's great creation in Bergman's Where Strawberries Grow (1957).

Another figure from the Swedish pantheon present among the co-creators of Sjöström's film is the Swedish Nobel Prize winner in literature Selma Lagerlöf. Her 1912 novel Körkarlen (with a reference to a folk legend) was a prototype of the script, and it is a prose so mature that it was a great challenge to transfer its atmosphere to the screen. The director has coped with the task — the film is above the era in which it was created in terms of storytelling. It successfully oscillates between sleep and wakefulness, confronting the harsh reality of the poor with scenes that, with the power of the language of the film, are made up of evocative dream swarms and ghosts. Flashbacks, photos that are repeatedly superimposed, a great composition of a film image seduce with a dark charm. The eponymous death wagon floats across the screen, causing a shiver of metaphysical anxiety even today.

Anita Skwara

Language: boards in Swedish
Subtitles: Polish, English

This concert may be part of the “My Pass” offer. Check the details and compose “My Pass” at will, choosing from concerts of different series in the chamber and concert hall — more information.

Performers: Henryk Jan Botor — organ

Program: Furman of Death (1921), directed by Victor Sjöström