In this adaptation of Selma Lagerlöf's novella, Sjöström (as actor and director) and cinematographer Julius Jaenzon are at their best. The story of social derelict David Holm's conversion through the love of Sister Edith and his encounter with the “phantom carriage” is made unforgettable by a complex yet effective cinematic narration, penetrating depictions of human psychology, and astonishing photographic experiments by Jaenzon. Although usually considered one of the high points of Sweden's Golden Age of silent cinema, The Phantom Chariot is interestingly unique for Sjöström with its contemporary, urban setting and foregrounding of the technical and narrational apparatuses that have previously been marked primarily by their absence. Ingmar Bergman describes The Phantom Chariot as his first great experience with the cinema, and he draws upon it both visually and thematically in Wild Strawberries (1957) featuring the aged Victor Sjöström.

The Phantom Chariot also screens on January 16 as part of our Victor Sjöström series.