A Man There Was (1917)

 Victor Sjostrom's "A Man There Was"

While D.W. Griffith was inventing the conventions of cinema with large scale historical epics in America, Victor Sjostrom was making far more intimate affairs in Sweden. Based on the Norwegian poem, "Terje Vigen," "A Man There Was" marked a new era in Swedish and European cinema. The film was the most expensive Swedish film made up until that point, with a budget of SEK 60,000. The result is a story of the life of a simple man, dealing with excruciating circumstances. 

Terje Vigen lives with his wife and baby in Norway, until the Napoleonic Wars begin in 1809. Due to the British blockade, many of the people in his village are left without food. In order to supply food to his wife, child, and village, Terje rows to Denmark so that he can smuggle it into the country. However, when returning, he is captured by British forces. A ruthless British captain shows him no mercy and sends him to jail, where he spends five years. He is released once the war ends. He returns to his village only to find his wife and daughter have died. He then lives in solitude for a number of years, until one day he sees a British yacht in distress in a storm. He goes forth to assist the ailing vessel, only to discover that the vessel's captain is the man who sent him to jail all those years ago. He plans vengeance against the man, until he stares into the eyes of the man's small baby (along with his wife). He then decides to rescue them instead. 

Terje was a man living in harmony and happiness with his family until the war began and its chaos and the cruelty of its participants ruined his life forever. During the film's release, World War II was in full force in Europe, wrecking the same havoc on the lives of many. It is reasonable to assertain that audiences felt a deep kinship with the strife of Terje, as he was dealing with parallel fallouts. However, it is important to note that Terje did not act out in vengenace, but rather returned hatred with forgiveness. The takeaway from the ending could intice a viewer to seek love and forgiveness in the face of pain and hatred.

By the standards of films at the time, "A Man There Was" was extremely ambitious. All of its seabound scenes are extensive and incredibly daring, unlike anyting captured on film before. Cameras were strapped to boats and captured real locations with dangerous waters. The result provides an overwhelming perception of the formidable seas. The viewer could feel apart of the danger and excitment of being out in these waters. Not only this, Sjostrom's use of crosscutting between the boats is used to build tension. The majesty of the film's images is not just limited to the sea, but also to its other locations. The use of real locations provided so much more essential reality in the images, allowing the audience to not have to view the piece as a staged production. Rather than stage the production in a studio with sets, the natural landscapes create a lush realness to the piece. The result is an encompassing and exicting affair, as Sjostrom brings to epic poem of Terje Vigen to life.

Sjostrom also was able to tell the story in a far more efficient way. He was so used to having his films clustered with title cards to give exposition. However, with "A Man There Was," he uses title cards sparingly, and only used them as excepts from the classic poem. Rather, he allows the film to breathe with its images, allowing the viewer to become encapsulated. He also allows the actors to act out their emotions and actions, rather than relying on any sort of narration. His cutaway shots to the sea allow for abstract representations of Terje's inner feelings, create a visual construct that mirrors the turmoil and depth of his soul. Dramatic camera setups and faster editing also allow Sjostrom to tell a visually efficient story. 

Compared to the dramatic flare that Griffith was doing at the time, Sjostrom's direction seems so simple. However, this simplicity was able to create something with great depth. When it was released to the public in 1917, and eventually in America in 1920, both general audiences and critics praised it. American theatre critic said of "A Man There Was," "It is so simple as to story and continuity and cutting and acting that one wonders why some of our output, not nearly so mighty, should use up so energy and emerge with so much ostentation." The film became a milestone in the director's work, and essentially ingnited his greatest period. It also ingnited a different understanding of what cinema could be. Because of the constraints of silent pictures, many directors at the time seemed to try and do more - more dramatic acting styles, more title cards, more grandiosity. However, Sjostrom's slow pace, naturalism, and the solumness of his images created something far more majestic.