Hailed as a masterpiece when it was first released in 1918, The Outlaw and His Wife represents a milestone in the history of Swedish film, as well as marking a turning point for its acclaimed director, Victor Sjöström. After establishing himself in Sweden as an actor and director on stage and in a series of popular silent films, Sjöström sharpened his instinct for psychological drama, refining his stage experience and applying it to the cinematic medium like no other director before him. A year after his Terje Vigen (aka A Man There Was, also newly available along with the filmmaker's 1913 Ingeborg Holm) signaled the beginning of Sweden's golden age of cinema, The Outlaw and His Wife dazzled critics and audiences alike with its thrilling tale of a wrongly-accused stranger (played by Sjöström) who is taken in by a widowed farm-owner (played by Sjöström's future wife, Edith Erastoff). The pair eventually fall in love, but the stranger's troubled past returns to haunt him, and the couple must seek refuge in the nearby mountains, setting the stage for a treacherous climax that deftly combines Sjöström's flair for rich, emotional drama (with characters far more complex than those found in typical silent-era melodramas) and breathtaking use of expansive, often dangerous mountain landscapes. Although the scratchy print diminishes some of the impact, this film remains exciting even today. DVD extras include an hour-plus 1981 Swedish documentary on the director's life and career (featuring an interview with Sjöström's protégé Ingmar Bergman) that offers a deeper appreciation of Sjöström's work as one of the most innovative but lesser-known pioneers of silent feature films. Recommended. (J. Shannon)
The Outlaw and His Wife
Kino, 70 min., not rated, DVD: $29.95 Volume 23, Issue 5
The Outlaw and His Wife
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