Gösta Berling’s Saga (Parts 1 & 2)

Selma Lagerlöf emphatically opposed the prospect of Mauritz Stiller directing the monumental two-part filming of her classic novel Gösta Berling's Saga, as she was concerned about Stiller remaining faithful to her text. In fact, Stiller had little interest in subjecting his cinematographic art to textual sources, insisting upon cinema’s legitimacy as an independent art form. Gösta Berling is a defrocked priest whose escapades with the other ex-soldiers living at the manor of Ekeby make up the loose structure for the narrative. The film was originally made in two parts and the restored version is the closest to the original there is. This film represents the first major performance of nineteen-year-old Greta Garbo as one of Gösta’s love interests, the countess Elizabeth Dohna.