In the Fetters of Darkness (I mörkrets bojor) (Georg af Klercker, 1917)

Georg af Klercker

My first confrontation with a film by Swedish unsung hero Georg af Klercker makes me want to see more of his work. In the fetters of darkness (I mörkrets bojor) is a drama about a woman, Elinor Petipon (Sybil Smolova), who gets jailed for the murder of her husband. But amnesia prevents her from remembering what really happened the night of the crime. We only know what Elinor recalls, so there’s no suspense, just a mystery. Upon her release she coincidentally encounters criminals who want to break into the Petipon mansion, occupied by Elinor’s now adult son of whom she’s been estranged since the murder of his father. The plot has some strange twists and turns. It rests, for instance, on chance events that might seem far-fetched in 21st century, but in the end it doesn’t really matter: the mystery keeps one interested. And of course one wants to know if the relation between mother and son will be restored.

Georg af Klercker – lesser known than his compatriots Victor Sjöström or Mauritz Stiller, although, at the end of the 1910s, he was as famous as they were – directs with a steady hand: his framings are minutely composed and his use of depth of field is amazing. Three points of action behind each other are, often, no exception, but the whole composition always stays crystal clear. And the result never looks like filmed theatre. Also inventive: the use of flashbacks to reveal, throughout the film, what really happened the night of the murder. In jail, Elinor is visited by a pastor who brings along his young son: this triggers a flashback of Elinor and her son as a boy. Here a little detail that shows the hand of the master: the two boys, who both are only seen in one (short) scene, are played by the same actor.

No camera movement, though, and no close ups of people.

By the way I watched a pristine print, restored by the Svenska Filminstitutet (Swedish Film Insitute).

 

Sorry, didn’t find a screen shot.