Happy March fellow film-admirers! To kick off the eventful month that is looming, I decided to watch an intriguing Swedish silent horror film by the name of The Phantom Carriage (TPC.) TPC was directed in 1921 by Victor Sjöström, a man who appears to be an extremely potent figure in the Swedish film-making scene of the past and present. He is especially known for working with and influencing Ingmar Bergman, a renowned director who headlined films such as Wild Strawberries and The Seventh Seal. Similarly to Curse of the Demon, Sjöström’s film does not have an astounding amount of internet attention, as it currently only has 14k audience ratings on IMDB and about 1-2k audience ratings on Rotten Tomatoes. However, it seems that the vast majority of this sample of reviewers adored The Phantom Carriage, as it has an 8/10 average rating on IMDB and a 100% critics rating/89% audience rating on Rotten Tomatoes. I have also overheard online that TPC not only has an argument for being the first horror film ever invented, but also has immensely influenced horror blockbusters we all adore to this day. After overseeing all of these eye-opening claims made online by critics and fans, I was elated to give this 1 hr and 47 min film the time of my night for consumption! WARNING: This post includes spoilers for the 1921 film The Phantom Carriage.
The Phantom Carriage is structured around the story of a pathetic burnt-out alcoholic named David Holm. He is a neglectful husband to a wife and two children, who are attempting to completely cut him out of their lives due to his abusive behavior. On new year’s eve, David decides to hang out in a graveyard and gets shit-face wasted with two of his buddies, ignoring his family like always. During this encounter, David opens up about a German tale his deceased friend Georges had educated him about. According to Georges’ story, the last person to perish at the end of a full year is administered a curse: they must drive the grim reaper’s carriage for the entire next year, picking up the souls of everyone who will perish for the next 365 days. While this honestly seems like a pretty interesting punishment to me, this experience can still be quite traumatizing in some instances. In one case, we had to watch a previously cursed man pick up the soul of a human who had just committed suicide with a gun, leaving this fellow having to witness the mess left behind.
Shortly after David concludes this dialogue, the three wound up getting into a substance-induced brawl with each other just moments before the ball drops. Coincidentally, seconds before the clock strikes midnight, one of the fools smashes David with a large glass liquor bottle, killing David and making him the last human being of the year to pass away. Once David’s soul disconnects from his body, he is then greeted with a horrifying surprise: the reaper’s carriage trudging its way towards him. Not only this, but the man driving the death carriage just so happens to be his previously-mentioned buddy Georges, who had also passed away on the previous new year’s eve 365 days before him. For the remainder of The Phantom Carriage, we are strapped into a dreadful carriage ride through David’s past and present, as he and Georges relive the countless fuck-ups David has committed throughout his bitter and turbulent time on Earth.
Starting with one of my endless praises for this movie, I found the pacing of the plot to be immaculately executed. When the film first kicks off, we are given no back-story in relation to what is being depicted. For example, the opening shots are of a young woman named Edit lying on her deathbed on NYE, where she frantically begs to talk to a man named David Holm before she perishes. At the time, I was just thinking, “Oh okay, David must just be her dad or something, no big deal”. However, this assumption and others were slowly but surely squashed right before my eyes, as we are gradually introduced to a profound amount of lore behind David’s relationships with this sickly woman and other characters. Rather than rushing the viewer into vital information, Sjöström instead adroitly sprinkles all of this context into our minds in a progressive manner. While some might find this scheme tedious, I personally thoroughly enjoyed Sjöström’s slow-burning directing style here. It forces the audience to brainstorm and connect all of the dots together on their own, invoking immense levels of audience-to-film engagement.
Further expanding on this subject, I also found myself surprisingly delighted with the silent style of this flick. Rather than leaving me sleepy, I actually felt far more on-edge because it was arduous for me to pinpoint where the story would end up traveling. Other than blocks of texts that would occasionally flash on the screen, I had almost no other methods for understanding how a character would behave from one moment to the next, leaving me constantly draped in suspense. In the case of The Phantom Carriage, silence is truly golden!
I also found Julius Jaenzon’s cinematography work to be quite astute. One of his first camera techniques utilized to perfection in TPC is that of colored lens filters. In most shots depicted from an outdoor setting, Jaenzon would make sure to utilize a moon-blue lens filter, casting a haunting and dreadful aura over a sizable chunk of this film. During shots conducted from an indoors setting, the audience would typically gaze at imagery through a yellow-tinted lens. For me, this conjures sensations of warmth and nostalgia, adding an old-school charm to scenes in which it’s employed. Another old-school film strategy conducted masterfully here is that of the iris, which effectively aids viewers in both understanding when a scene is concluding/beginning as well as letting us know which characters hold importance in scenes. Lastly, I was absolutely enamored with the double-exposure technique shots of the characters in ghost-form. In scenes where these shots were delivered, an impeccable amount of see-through transparency was edited into each character’s appearance, making them appear quite ghastly in my opinion. To be honest, I do not believe I have ever witnessed any film make ghosts look as realistic as TPC does, which is astounding knowing this film is over a century-old by now. I was worried that the ghosts would appear cartoonish and dated, but my fears were fortunately quelled thanks to the herculean efforts of Jaenzon and others.
When analyzing themes, Sjöström’s film evidently has religious and spiritual undertones embedded in various ways. At the end of the film, we see ghost-form David incessantly pleading with Georges to stop his wife from committing suicide as they are helplessly watching her attempt to poison herself. In this moment, we see David display the most considerable amount of remorse and repentance for his selfish actions we’ve ever seen throughout the film. After Georges witnesses his striking display of repentance, he is rewarded by unexpectedly being returned to his physical vessel, giving him the chance to sprint back to his wife’s house and rescue her from peril. This serves as an allegory for the concept of repentance seen in religions such as Christianity, where followers are rewarded for turning away from sinful habits and becoming a morally pure human being. On a simpler level, this flick also analyzes the concept of existential dread. After David dies, he literally has to rewatch just about every single horrible evil deed he has committed like his life was a movie. I find this concept to be downright chilling, as I would be flushed with embarrassment if I had to relive every awkward life moment that I randomly recall at 3 AM when I’m trying to sleep. Although my worst screw ups are miniscule in comparison to David’s, I can still immensely sympathize with Holm’s fear of potentially having to confront the lowest points of his life again in the afterworld.
In this film, we also see the theme of alcohol abuse tackled with tremendous dignity. Rather than just verbally regurgitating the trite idea of “alcohol = evil,” Sjöström delves into the potential downfalls of alcohol consumption in an intricate and non-verbal manner. One way in which he pulls this off is through illustrating the domino effect that often occurs in families/friend groups with substance abuse troubles. We initially learn in the first half that Georges was actually the individual who originally introduced David to alcohol and got him hooked on the substance, which Georges still expresses immense guilt over. As Georges and David continue their trek through David’s muddy past, we also realize that David pressured his brother into drinking himself. To make matters worse, David ended up having to serve several years in jail due to him influencing his brother to murder someone while drunk. TPC then puts the final cherry on top when we figure out that David also has pressured other friends into becoming alcoholics as well. All of these plot components serve as a reminder of how easily substance abuse habits can spread in social circles like wildfire.
Building on my discussion of this theme, the trauma/damage of alcoholism is also portrayed with extensive attention to detail. Although we as an audience already know about Mrs. Holm running away from him, one scene that I especially feel hammers this concept home occurs around 1:29:00. In this scene, we are given one of the most chilling scopes into David’s drunken state when he is axing down a door in their house Jack Torrance style. On the other side, we are shown the wife and her children frantically making an attempt to break for it, and Mrs. Holm becomes so overwhelmed that she passes out on the floor. Not only was this one of the most nerve-wracking moments in TPC, but it also illustrates the hidden terrors that may take place inside an alcoholic family’s household. We also see the potential trauma caused by an alcoholic through David’s treatment of Edit. Like countless other friends/loved ones of alcoholics, she utilized pretty much all of her willpower in a desperate attempt to put David’s life back on track. She even allows him to sleep in a shelter she works at one night, where she not only fixes his jacket, but also provides him with food and water. Despite all of this, David still decides to treat her like she’s a pile of manure in response. On that night and during other occasions, David verbally abuses Edit, and simply walks all over her in my opinion. In Edit’s process of aiding him, she also ends up catching a life-ending disease from him due to his lackluster self-care habits, showing just how challenging rehabilitating a loved one from substance abuse can end up being.
After digesting Sjöström’s work here, I can proclaim without any hesitation that I have just witnessed a masterfully crafted piece of art as well as a classic in cinema history. The Phantom Carriage is certainly not made for the inattentive consumer, as it demanded more of my focus than pretty much any other movie has before. However, if you are willing to commit to this mental endeavor, then your senses will be immensely rewarded. The Phantom Carriage is a perfect storm of stimulating visuals, heartful story-telling, and tight musical score all conjoining together to take the audience on a carnival ride of sorrowfulness and regret!
FINAL RATING: 9/10
– Nicholas DeBello, Blogger.
Nicholas DeBello – Blogger: Nicholas is a Senior at Lewis University who is currently working towards a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology. After he graduates, he will likely pursue a Master’s degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling at Lewis University. He spends countless hours of his leisure time consuming YouTube videos and online forum posts of others reviewing/discussing music albums, films, and TV shows, which has inspired him to take his own stab at the art of media critique himself. Nicholas also enjoys going for nature walks, daydreaming, film-watching, and listening to his vinyl/CD collection in his free time as well. Some of Nicholas’ favorite films are The Silence of The Lambs, Parasite, The Truman Show, and The Thing (1982). He is also an avid fan of the television series Bojack Horseman.