Film Review: A Man There Was (Terje Vigen, 1917)

Second World War wasn’t the first time when Norwegians suffered because of their country being involved in global conflict. Similar event from more than century earlier provided backdrop for Terje Vigen (known under English title A Man There Was), 1917 silent period drama directed by Victor Sjöström, best known as the film that is considered the start of the first Golden Age of Swedish Cinema.

The film is based on the eponymous 1862 poem by Norwegian writer Henrik Ibsen, inspired by real life stories he had heard while living in town of Grimstad. The plot begins with Terje Vigen (played by Sjöström) as en embittered old man living alone and earning his living as a maritime pilot. Through flashback we see how he, as young sailor living on island, worked hard to provide for his wife and little daughter. In 1809, during Napoleonic Wars, Norway, on the account of being in personal union with pro-Napoleon Denmark, gets blockaded by ships of British Royal Navy. People are starving and Terje, in a desperate bid to feed his family, takes small boat and slips through blockade and buys food in Denmark. Upon return he gets caught and sees how British captain (played by August Falck) cruelly disregards his calls for mercy and has his boat and cargo sunk, while Terje is put in prison. Five years later war ends with Norway being brought into personal union anti-Napoleonic Sweden, so Terje, like other Norwegian prisoners, is set free. Upon the return he learns that both his wife and daughter starved to death. Many years later, Terje is called to help pilot a yacht owned by British aristocrat who, much to Terje’s surprise, happens to be the same Royal Navy captain responsible for his family’s death. Terje, who has aged beyond recognition, decides to use this opportunity and deliberately runs the yacht aground and later volunteers to paddle the captain to shore in safety boat. But just as he about to get his vengeance, presence of the man’s wife and child make him reconsider.

A Man There Was was made during First World War, in which Sweden, like Norway, remained neutral, but both countries were affected by economic consequences of British blockade of Germany and fearful that they might be drawn into the conflict. All that made the subject of the film very relevant to the audience at the time. However, even without its historical context, A Man There Was represents remarkable film from strictly technical and artistic standpoint. Victor Sjöström, known as experienced stage actor and prolific director of Swedish silent cinema, used Ibsen’s text as basis for simple, relatively short but an effective film. Sjöström was using islands near Stockholm at location and with the budget of 60,000 Swedish krona, his film became the most expensive Swedish film by that time. Although not exactly spectacular, Sjöström’s film is quite impressive, mainly due to director using some of the innovative techniques and his energetic direction. That included Sjöström playing the same character as young and old man, use of flashbacks and flashbacks within a flashbacks and action scenes that actually take place at sea, which brought all kinds of technical challenges for still young film industry. Sjöström also deliberately decided to abandon traditional descriptive intertitles – tool used for narration purposes in silent era. Instead he relied solely on Ibsen’s verses that occasionally appear and comment on the plot. The result is a good, innovative film which served as good basis for Sjöström and Swedish cinema to build new themes and techniques. Even the audience unfamiliar with Scandinavian history would recognise the universal themes of love, hate, vengeance and forgiveness. In 1933 Germany a sound remake, set in Baltics during First World War and starring Heinrich George, was released under title The Lake Calls.

RATING: 6/10 (++)

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