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revival, and demonstrated that it did not depend only on the exploitation of a vein of psychological drama in the style of the French directors. The basis of the film was a play by the young theological student, Rune Lindstrom, which had been a remarkable success both in Uppsala and in Stockholm. Lindstrom collaborated in writing the script and played the principal part, but it was through the genius of Sjoberg's direction that the film achieved its distinctive blend of fantasy and realism. Without his imaginative grasp, the diverse elements in the theme might well have fallen apart. The central figure is a young peasant whose love and happiness are destroyed by the superstition of witchcraft, and who sets out on a pilgrimage in quest of heavenly justice. On his way he meets a variety of Biblical characters as he has visualized them: a trio of prophets leaning on a gate. Solomon in a magnificent uniform, God in black frockcoat and top hat. He grows old and rich and corrupt and, having acknowledged the vanity of his claims, he is brought back to a heaven which is his old home with his own youth and idealism restored to him. Sjoberg's creative imagination made something memorable of this morality play. His treatment was free and fluid, so that it could accommodate effects both ultra-fantastic and near-realistic while at the same time never losing its atmosphere of lyrical radiance. Sjoberg's handling of his players, who included Anders Henrikson as the Lord God. was characteristically delicate and resourceful; and in making a film which was continuously beautiful to watch he had the collaboration of two of Sweden's most experienced film craftsmen: Gosta Roosling, whose photography of the Swedish landscape in springtime and under snow had a translucent brilliance, and Arne Akermark, whose sets helped to give the film its distinctive freshness.
Himlaspelet helped to give spiritual stature to the revival of the Swedish cinema. So also did Gustaf Molander's Ordet [The Word), adapted from the play by the Danish dramatist, Kaj Munk, who was tragically murdered by the Nazis in 1944. Molander recreated the theme in the setting of a small Swedish coastal community and gave it an atmosphere so realistic that there was no hint of stage or studio. Victor Sjostrom played the tyrannical old farmer, troubled by the conduct of his sons and the failure of his daughter-in-law to bear a boy who can succeed to the farm, and Rune Lindstrom, who collaborated in the treatment, played one of the sons who, studying for the church, loses first his faith and then his mental balance. The supreme test for director and players came in the final scene of the halfdemented youth's miraculous act of faith after tragedy has overtaken his family. What might so easily have been hopelessly melodramatic was handled with masterly restraint so that the scene carried tremendous power. It is difficult to imagine such a theme about the power of belief being attempted outside Scandinavia. Molander succeeded because he was able to create and sustain an atmosphere in which the events he described seemed natural and convincing. Again the photography of Gosta Roosling helped to give the theme roots.
Supernaturalism had a somewhat more sensationalist flavour in Hampe Faust
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