The Atonement of Gosta Berling

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Steve D 02/20/2024 The version I saw was far too long and the story all over the place. See more 11/09/2014 Far too long but with some impressive set pieces. Early Garbo before Stiller and then MGM took her under their wing and molded her. She's about 15 pounds heavier than usual which obscures those signature cheekbones and her hair and make-up are awful but the spark is definitely there. See more 05/01/2011 Everybody atones for something in this (long) Swedish silent classic. See more 08/03/2010 Fully fleshed-out characters undergoing complex emotional struggles, with a sense of genuine human insight. Even the minor characters are nuanced, not a moustache-twirling villain in sight. The leads Lars Hanson and Greta Garbo are both wonderful (I can see why people developed a fascination with Garbo) and every supporting performance is good, too. Sets, costumes and cinematography are beautiful without being overly ostentatious. There are fantastic sequences involving a massive estate fire and being chased by wolves across a frozen lake. The story -- about the misfortunes of a defrocked vicar and those he encounters -- is a rich, Dickensian melodrama with a great deal of depth and no heavy-handed moralizing. Really a treat, the kind of silent movie that even people who don't like silent movies can enjoy. See more 05/01/2010 Some interesting scenes (the chase, the fire) but the plot drags in this epic Swedish silent film. Worth seeing mainly to catch a glimpse of Garbo before she hit the big time in Hollywood. See more 03/25/2010 One of the pillars of early silent Swedish cinema, this 3-hour romantic epic from famed actor and director Mauritz Stiller and based on the novel by Selma Lagerlöf is perhaps most famous for providing a breakthrough role for future screen legend Greta Garbo, younger and plumper than the icon known to us today. Gosta Berling, intensely played by Lars Hanson, is a young minister who is given to bouts of drinking and is eventually defrocked and taken in by an aristocratic matriarch. Many scenes are highly stylized and retain a creaky stodginess, but others are exceptionally captivating and action-driven, especially those that make use of the pristine Swedish wilderness (chief among these, a dynamic sled chase with Hanson and Garbo pursued by ravenous wolves). Stiller would end up in Hollywood along with Garbo, but sadly, his career did not reach the same heights before he died at the age of 45. See more Read all reviews

The Atonement of Gosta Berling

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