"Ghostbusters" is based on the director's father, and Sjostrom himself plays David Holm, without any makeup. Many of Lagerlof's novels have been adapted into films, with "The Phantom of the Car" being the most impressive. Sjostrom, through his characters, expresses an attack on moral decay, as well as his protest that the life Lagerlof preached in the original must be bound by a strict creed. The director's rich imagination and creative exploration of the psychological level of the characters in his works make the film bring a strong social criticism color, which is the most influential work of director Sjostrom.
The film's story is told through a series of intricate flashbacks: time stands still before a new year begins; future, past and present are intertwined. The film uses a variety of new technical means, such as special lighting and superimposition, to make the distinction between current events and flashbacks, reality and dreams, lucidity and trance, declarative tone and conditional words all clear. These distinctions are accentuated by the stark contrast between the naturalistic and violent scenes and the mystical ghostly scenes derived from the Protestant and folklore traditions.
The cinematography of "The Phantom" is excellent, not only thanks to the director's exquisite conception, but also to the rich imagination and outstanding creativity of cinematographer Julius Janssen. The film is the first to use the superimposition technique: David lies in the cemetery, and his soul is detached, and the superimposition of the soul and the body appears on the screen. Jason uses the double exposure technique here. Immediately afterwards, the soul saw the carriage slowly approaching, and the images of the body, soul, and carriage were superimposed together. In this picture, Jason used the technique of three exposures. And the phantom ghost wagon rides on the misty surf, and more. In the film, the director not only chose a special angle to express the deep psychology of the characters, but also found the most peculiar and most appropriate means of expressing this angle together with the photographer, thus producing a strong artistic appeal. Its significance lies not only in improving the viewing value of the film, but also in its contribution that cannot be underestimated to enrich the language of film and the means of film expression. It had a strong influence on the poetic films that followed, including French Jean Cocteau's Blood of a Poet. These techniques used in The Phantom of the Car are still widely used in contemporary cinema. The classic beauty of the picture, the ingenious narrative technique and the sincerity of the film writer make "The Phantom of the Car" one of the most outstanding works of silent film, along with Chaplin's "The Gold Rush" and Eisenstein's "Battleship Potemkin". ” keep pace with each other.
Film director Viktor Sjostrom (1879-1960) is one of the founders of the "Swedish School" and is known as the "Father of Swedish Film".
Sjostrom in his films shows that he is good at revealing the raw beauty of nature, transforming it into a real dramatic element, not just as a backdrop for plot events. This plays a huge role in the performance of the inner world of the characters, and also greatly strengthens the dramatic effect and lyricism of the film. As early as the 1920s, the famous French film critic Leon Mosinac pointed out that Sjostrom's works "generally have a lyrical mood, which was rare at the time". These qualities of Sjostrom were maximized in his adaptation of Thelma Lagerloff's novel, which he did with the utmost fidelity and meticulousness, mixing literary tradition with the ambiguity of location shots. Powerful impact is cleverly combined.
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