The Outlaw and His Wife (1918)

Victor Sjostrom's "The Outlaw and His Wife"

Coming off the success of "A Man There Was," Victor Sjostrom created another intimate piece of filmmaking, called "The Outlaw and His Wife." The film, like his previous, focused more on emotional realism rather than melodrama. Nature is a big element in this film, as Sjostrom showcases its beauty and its coldness. Adapted from the 1911 play by Johann Sigurjonsson, the film takes place in 18th century Iceland. All the reaches of human emotion are on display, and all of them placed in front of the backdrop of devine nature.

The film centers on a man named Ejvind. Ejvind is on the run for stealing a sheep to feed his starving community. Changing his name to Kari, he escapes into the mountains and happens upon a farm, where he gets work. The widow farm owner, Halla, falls in love with him. After discovering his secret, the two run off together higher into the mountains to evade capture. Five years later, they have a small child. Once the capturers return for violence, Halla throws her baby off a cliff and manages to escape with Ejvind. The two get higher into the mountains and becomes trapped by a snowstorm. After going without food for seven days, the two die in the snow. 

The film showcases the love, jealousy, anger, despair, grief, and so many other emotions of the characters through the narrative. The tapesty of human experience is on full display. To aide the vastness of the internatility of the characters, Sjostrom films long, majestic shots of mountainous environments. This helps integrate the characters into the landscape, as Sjostrom seems to suggest that they are part of its vastness. 

Another important element of the film, as well as with Swedish cinema at the time, was the acting. At the time, many actors in films had to be very animated in their expressions, so as to convey their obvious emotionality without the tools of sound. However, with Sjostrom's films (and other Swedish films), actors downplay their animated style. The effect creates an inward focus, as the lack of expression pulls the viewer to search for depth. Lilian Gish, famous for her many starring roles in the films of D.W. Griffith (and who later worked with Sjostrom), said, "his direction was a great education for me. The Swedish school acting is one of repression." 

Overall, the film is not well-known. However, many film historian looks to this piece as a groundbreaking work of Swedish cinema. Its portrayal of wild nature, as well as its vastness of human emotionality demonstrated the depths cinema could go in its portrayal of intimate stories.