Film Review: The Outlaw and His Wife (Berg-Ejvind och hans hustru, 1918)

Classic films from the silent era look overly melodramatic when compared with modern films, which could be easily explained with the lack of sound forcing actors to use overly theatrical facial expressions, a technique that favoured overly emotional content. Some filmmakers even in that period had the talent and ingenuity to, at least in part, overcome those limitations and one of them was Swedish director Victor Sjöström, whose 1918 period drama Berg-Ejvind och hans hustru ("Mountain Eyvind and His Wife", better known under the English title The Outlaw and His Wife) represents one of the finest works of what is nowadays known as the Golden Age of Swedish Cinema.

Like in his previous film A Man There Was, Sjöström here sought inspiration in literary works of his country's Nordic neighbours. In this particular case it was the eponymous 1911 play by Icelandic writer Jóhann Sigurjónsson, inspired by the true story about his country's outlaw Fjalla-Eyvindur (or "Eyvindur of the Mountains"). The plot is set in mid-18th Century Iceland and begins when a mysterious stranger who calls himself Kári (played by Sjöström) comes to the northern part of the island looking for work. He is taken in by a rich widow named Halla (played by Edith Erastoff) who, deeply impressed by his skills, quickly promotes him to overseer and falls madly in love with him. Their happiness is, however, thwarted by Halla's brother-in-law Björn Bergstéinsson (played by Nils Ahrén), a local bailiff who is jealous of Kári and is later delighted to learn that he is actually an escaped prison convict named Eyvind. When confronted, Eyvind explains to Halla that he was sentenced to ten years in prison for stealing a sheep in order to feed his starving family. When he decides to leave, Halla decides to join him and they spend time in the mountainous interior of Iceland, enjoying plenty of game, fish, water and natural warm springs. They even have a daughter named Tota, but their happy life begins to go wrong with the arrival of Eyvind's friend and fellow outlaw Arnes (played by John Ekman) who would develop his own romantic feelings for Halla, while, at the same time, Björn never stopped trying to capture Eyvind.

The Outlaw and His Wife, when compared with A Man There Was, looks more ambitious and grander, but this is mostly due to being twice as long, having more major characters and a plot that covers much more ground. However, it is still a very simple story that could, despite Sjöström's proper reconstruction of Iceland from a century and a half ago, be told in different countries and time periods. Sjöström tells it in a simple and straightforward manner, not indulging in fanciful experimentation and only occasionally using quick edits or explanatory flashbacks. The emphasis is on realism, and that includes not only more subdued acting, but also the casting of Edith Erastoff, who actually doesn't look like a great screen diva and who was actually pregnant during the production. The chemistry between her and Sjöström is quite natural and, somewhat unsurprisingly, they became husband and wife in real life. But Sjöström didn't rely only on the cast to tell his story. While the authentic Icelandic locations were impractical for logistical and financial reasons, Sjöström has shot most of the film outdoors, using the mountainous locations in the north of Sweden. Those locations provide scenes of great natural beauty but the landscape also serves as a sort of Greek chorus. Sjöström shoots scenes in summer to depict the protagonists' early outlaw life as a time of happiness only to turn towards winter later in the film, when their woes would culminate in a very bleak and tragic ending. That ending might be too melodramatic for some tastes, but it nevertheless can create a strong emotional response even in our more cynical times. Sjöström's film proved to be very popular, not only in Sweden, but also internationally, and paved the way for him to continue his career in Hollywood in the 1920s.

RATING: 6/10 (++)

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