The Saga of Gösta Berling
About The Saga of Gösta Berling
In Värmland, twelve cavaliers drink at Margaretha Samzelius’s Ekeby. Gösta Berling, a minister put out for drink and for sermons he should not have preached, is hired to tutor Ebba Dohna at Borg. Her stepmother wants that match so Ebba can be cut off in favor of Hendrik. Hendrik comes back from Italy with his wife Elizabeth (Greta Garbo); the truth about Berling wrecks Ebba, and Margaretha pulls him into the cavaliers. At a dinner Marianne Sinclaire kisses him. Her father rages, Margaretha’s past comes out, and her husband gives Ekeby to the cavaliers and sends her away. Berling hides the sick Marianne in the snowbound house. Margaretha sets a fire to drive the men out; it spreads, and he saves Marianne. Elizabeth, who does not love Hendrik, tells Berling she loves him. He rebuilds Ekeby. Margaretha leaves it to the two of them.
Cast & crew
More about The Saga of Gösta Berling
Mauritz Stiller directed and wrote the script with Ragnar Hyltén-Cavallius, from Selma Lagerlöf’s 1891 novel. Julius Jaenzon photographed it. Svensk Filmindustri released it in two parts on 10 March 1924. Lars Hanson plays Berling. Garbo, as Elizabeth Dohna, has her first Swedish leading role.
Themes
In film history
In Sweden this is the picture that put Garbo in a leading role, before her move to Hollywood.
Making
Stiller’s two-part shape keeps Lagerlöf’s Ekeby, the twelve cavaliers, and the Dohna marriage rather than a single courtship. Elizabeth is Hendrik’s wife, not the pupil Berling is hired to teach. That pupil is Ebba.
Look
Julius Jaenzon shot the Värmland estates, the snow in which Berling finds Marianne, and the fire that runs through Ekeby.
Music
Silent.
Preservation
The two-part original ran near three hours. A 2018 restoration moved surviving material back toward that length. Shorter circulating copies had been the usual way to see it.
Notes
- One account of the opening split gives Part I at 86 minutes and Part II at 80, against a combined figure near 183. Wikidata lists 184 minutes.
- Other titles used in English are Gösta Berling’s Saga, The Story of Gösta Berling, and The Atonement of Gösta Berling.
- Gerda Lundequist, Jenny Hasselquist, Mona Mårtenson, and Karin Swanström are in the cast with Hanson and Garbo.
- A 2018 restoration was cut back toward the 1924 length.
- Kino International issued a U.S. DVD in 2006. AB Svensk Filmindustri issued a DVD in 2008.
Scenes
- The cavaliers drink at Ekeby under Margaretha’s roof.
- Hendrik’s return exposes Berling and breaks Ebba.
- Marianne kisses Berling at the dinner, and her father turns on her.
- Berling carries Marianne in from the snow.
- Margaretha’s fire outruns her plan, and Berling pulls Marianne clear.
Influenced by
- Gösta Berling's Saga (Selma Lagerlöf, 1891)
Also available
- Internet Archive (the-saga-of-gosta-berling_1928)
- Kino International DVD (2006)
- AB Svensk Filmindustri DVD (2008)
