A Man There Was

A Man There Was (Swedish: Terje Vigen) is a 1917 Swedish drama directed by Victor Sjöström,[1] based on a poem of the same title by Henrik Ibsen. With a budget of SEK 60,000, it was the most expensive Swedish film made up to that point,[2] marking a new direction in Swedish cinema with more funding to fewer films, resulting in more total quality.[3]

A Man There Was
Directed byVictor Sjöström
Produced byCharles Magnusson
Written by
Based onTerje Vigen
by Henrik Ibsen
StarringVictor Sjöström
CinematographyJulius Jaenzon
Release date
  • 29 January 1917 (1917-01-29)
Running time
65 minutes
CountrySweden
LanguageSilent film
Budget60,000 SEK

This film is considered to be the start of the golden age of Swedish silent film that would end after Gösta Berlings saga in 1925, although films such as Ingeborg Holm (1913) are often assigned to this era as well.

Plot

Terje Vigen lives happily with his wife and little girl on a small island in Norway. In 1809, because of the English blockade, poor people start starving and he decides to row to Denmark to bring food to his family. On the way back, he is captured by a ruthless English captain and sent to jail in England. When he was finally freed in 1814 and can return home, he finds that his wife and daughter have died. He takes up a solitary life in his house overlooking the sea. One night he sees a British yacht in distress in a storm. He rushed to her help and discovers that the skipper is the same man that had taken him prisoner and broken his life many years before. He decides against vengeance and rescues the skipper along with the skipper's wife and child.

Cast
  • Victor Sjöström as Terje Vigen
  • Edith Erastoff as The Lady
  • August Falck as The Lord
  • Bergliot Husberg as Mrs. Vigen

References
  1. "Progressive Silent Film List: A Man There Was". Silent Era. Retrieved 2009-04-23.
  2. Summary at Svenskfilmdatabas.se (in Swedish) Swedish Film Institute
  3. Summary of The Outlaw and His Wife at Svenskfilmdatabas.se (in Swedish) Swedish Film Institute


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