Fiskebyn (1920)
Swedish postcard. Förlag Nordisk Konst, Stocholm, No. 1094/12. Lars Hanson and Karin Molander in the Swedish silent film Fiskebyn (Chains/The Fishing Village, Mauritz Stiller, Svenska 1920).
Swedish actress Karin Molander (1889–1978) was a star of the silent Scandinavian cinema. In the films of Mauritz Stiller, she became a symbol of the modern, young and emancipated women of the 1910s. Lars Hanson (1886-1965) was a highly successful Swedish film and stage actor mostly remembered for his motion picture roles during the silent film era, both in Scandinavia and Hollywood.
Plot: A small, rugged fishing village on the west coast, is permeated by the Puritan spirit and Schartauanism. The local priest (Nils Arehn) is a tough man who controls his congregation boys with an iron hand. Jakob Vindås (Egil Eide), a widower, lives with his daughter and mother (Hildur Carlberg), the latter being even more unbearable than the priest himself. In the village also the school teacher Rilke (Carl Helleman) lives, whose son Thomas (Lars Hanson) for three years studied at university, and Martina (Karin Molander), an orphan girl, whose hand Jacob has asked. Jacob wants to marry Martina and the priest gives him permission, but his mother denies harshly. Meanwhile, Martina and Thomas have already fallen in love with each other. They meet in a crowded place on the island and bath together there, completely naked but in all chastity. They do not even kiss each other. Yet, someone has seen them without clothes, and the gossip goes like a rush through society. The priest orders the school teacher to immediately send Thomas away or look after another job.
Thomas wanders out, but one day he is back again. Martina is now married to Jacob and assures him that their past is dead and forgotten. Calmly, Jakob goes on a fishing trip, which will last for 14 days. Only the night before Jacob is expected back, Thomas and Martina meet again after their long divorce. Thomas now knows that the priest forced Martina to marry Jacob. "But now it's all too late," says Martina. Thomas goes resigned, but at the door, he kisses Martina in parting. The door opens and Mother Vindås is on the doorstep. She rushes out and returns immediately with the priest. A bold appearance follows as the priest concludes with the words: "Tomorrow the whole village will know your shame!"
The next day, on Sunday, the whole village is gathered in the church, including Martina, Thomas, and his father. From the pulpit, the priest holds a sulfurous punishment over the traitor Thomas and the unfaithful wife Martina. Then he wants to chase them out of the church and the community. But they do not have to go alone. Thomas's father joins them and Jacob's little daughter (Käthe Schnitzer) also runs out after Martina. Meanwhile, Jacob has come home, and by his mother, he is told what has happened. Thomas and Martina have resorted to the school teacher's house, outside which now the villagers gathered and throw stones at the house. But when Jacob gets there, he does not what everyone is waiting for. He instead drives away the people, then goes in and asks Martina forgiveness: "You're free to follow him. It should never have been otherwise. I am too old, my hands too rough for you."
Fiskebyn premiered on March 15, 1920. The shooting took place at the Svenska Biografteatern studio at Lidingö with exterior scenes shot at Fiskebäckskil, Gåsö and several locations in Bohuslän. Henrik Jaenzon took care of the cinematography. The film was based on Georg Engel's play Im Hafen, published in Berlin in 1905. During and after the shooting, scriptwriter Bertil Malmberg revised the manuscript into a novel of the same name, published just before Christmas 1919. In the film, there is a bath in the nude that did not raise any major upheaval despite the fact that the film was exported to a number of Catholic countries. On the other hand, the role of the priest was changed to the chairman of the village council and all the shots with churches were cut out.
Sources: IMDB, Swedish Wikipedia, www.svenskfilmdatabas.se/sv/item/?type=film&itemid=34...
Fiskebyn (1920)
Swedish postcard. Förlag Nordisk Konst, Stocholm, No. 1094/12. Lars Hanson and Karin Molander in the Swedish silent film Fiskebyn (Chains/The Fishing Village, Mauritz Stiller, Svenska 1920).
Swedish actress Karin Molander (1889–1978) was a star of the silent Scandinavian cinema. In the films of Mauritz Stiller, she became a symbol of the modern, young and emancipated women of the 1910s. Lars Hanson (1886-1965) was a highly successful Swedish film and stage actor mostly remembered for his motion picture roles during the silent film era, both in Scandinavia and Hollywood.
Plot: A small, rugged fishing village on the west coast, is permeated by the Puritan spirit and Schartauanism. The local priest (Nils Arehn) is a tough man who controls his congregation boys with an iron hand. Jakob Vindås (Egil Eide), a widower, lives with his daughter and mother (Hildur Carlberg), the latter being even more unbearable than the priest himself. In the village also the school teacher Rilke (Carl Helleman) lives, whose son Thomas (Lars Hanson) for three years studied at university, and Martina (Karin Molander), an orphan girl, whose hand Jacob has asked. Jacob wants to marry Martina and the priest gives him permission, but his mother denies harshly. Meanwhile, Martina and Thomas have already fallen in love with each other. They meet in a crowded place on the island and bath together there, completely naked but in all chastity. They do not even kiss each other. Yet, someone has seen them without clothes, and the gossip goes like a rush through society. The priest orders the school teacher to immediately send Thomas away or look after another job.
Thomas wanders out, but one day he is back again. Martina is now married to Jacob and assures him that their past is dead and forgotten. Calmly, Jakob goes on a fishing trip, which will last for 14 days. Only the night before Jacob is expected back, Thomas and Martina meet again after their long divorce. Thomas now knows that the priest forced Martina to marry Jacob. "But now it's all too late," says Martina. Thomas goes resigned, but at the door, he kisses Martina in parting. The door opens and Mother Vindås is on the doorstep. She rushes out and returns immediately with the priest. A bold appearance follows as the priest concludes with the words: "Tomorrow the whole village will know your shame!"
The next day, on Sunday, the whole village is gathered in the church, including Martina, Thomas, and his father. From the pulpit, the priest holds a sulfurous punishment over the traitor Thomas and the unfaithful wife Martina. Then he wants to chase them out of the church and the community. But they do not have to go alone. Thomas's father joins them and Jacob's little daughter (Käthe Schnitzer) also runs out after Martina. Meanwhile, Jacob has come home, and by his mother, he is told what has happened. Thomas and Martina have resorted to the school teacher's house, outside which now the villagers gathered and throw stones at the house. But when Jacob gets there, he does not what everyone is waiting for. He instead drives away the people, then goes in and asks Martina forgiveness: "You're free to follow him. It should never have been otherwise. I am too old, my hands too rough for you."
Fiskebyn premiered on March 15, 1920. The shooting took place at the Svenska Biografteatern studio at Lidingö with exterior scenes shot at Fiskebäckskil, Gåsö and several locations in Bohuslän. Henrik Jaenzon took care of the cinematography. The film was based on Georg Engel's play Im Hafen, published in Berlin in 1905. During and after the shooting, scriptwriter Bertil Malmberg revised the manuscript into a novel of the same name, published just before Christmas 1919. In the film, there is a bath in the nude that did not raise any major upheaval despite the fact that the film was exported to a number of Catholic countries. On the other hand, the role of the priest was changed to the chairman of the village council and all the shots with churches were cut out.
Sources: IMDB, Swedish Wikipedia, www.svenskfilmdatabas.se/sv/item/?type=film&itemid=34...