New Arrival The Phantom Carriage (#579)

The last person to die on New Years Eve before the clock strikes twelve is doomed to take the reins of Deaths chariot and work tirelessly collecting fresh souls for the next year. So says the legend that drives The Phantom Carriage (Krkarlen), directed by the father of Swedish cinema, Victor Sjstrm. The story, based on a novel by Nobel Prize winner Selma Lagerlf, concerns an alcoholic, abusive neer-do-well (Sjstrm himself) who is shown the error of his ways, and the pure-of-heart Salvation Army sister who believes in his redemption. This extraordinarily rich and innovative silent classic (which inspired Ingmar Bergman to make movies) is a Dickensian ghost story and a deeply moving morality tale, as well as a showcase for groundbreaking special effects.

SPECIAL FEATURES

New digital restoration, done in collaboration with the Archival Film Collections of the Swedish Film Institute

Two scores, one by Swedish composer Matti Bye and the other by the experimental duo KTL (Stephen OMalley and Peter Rehberg)

Audio commentary featuring film historian Casper Tybjerg

Interview with Ingmar Bergman, excerpted from the 1981 documentary Victor Sjstrm: A Portrait, by Gsta Werner

The Bergman Connection, an original visual essay by film historian and Bergman scholar Peter Cowie on the films influence on Bergman

Footage of the construction of the Rsunda studio where The Phantom Carriage was the inaugural production

New and improved English subtitle translation

PLUS: A booklet featuring a new essay by screenwriter and filmmaker Paul Mayersberg