Scott Lord on Silent Film

Scott Lord on Silent Film
Gendered spectatorship notwithstanding, in a way, the girl coming down the stairs is symbolic of the lost film itself, the unattainable She, idealized beauty antiquated (albeit it being the beginning of Modernism), with the film detective catching a glimpse of the extratextural discourse of periodicals and publicity stills concerning Lost Films, Found Magazines

Wednesday, August 19, 2026

Scott Lord Swedish Silent Film: Synd (Gustaf Molander, 1928)


Swedish Silent Film director Gustaf Molander had in fact been at the Intima Theatern from 1911 to 1913.
In his volume Scandinavian Film, Forsyth Hardy, while outlining that there had been a turn to a more theatrical style in cinema just prior to the advent of the sound film and, for economic reasons, an attempt to make films that could be exported, mentions that there had been a departure from the tradition of the Golden Age of Swedish silent film that conversely gained little recognition outside of Sweden. Paul Merzbach had become head of the script writing department and produced films directed by Gustaf Molander that were, according to Hardy, “superficial rootless products”. Hardy wrote, "The Merzbach influence had scaled helped to scale down the Strindberg drama into a thriller."

The periodical Close Up reviewed the film with, "A Swedish picture, Sin develops from darkness. Photography is uncannily natural. One cannot see the faces of the actors, only the shimmer of a tinsel, evening sea. This is modern in the best sense of the new school of photography."

Starring in the film “Synd” (Sin, 1928) were Lars Hansonand Elissa Landi. The cinematographer of the film was Julius Jaenzon with Ake Dahlquist as assistant camerman.


Gustaf Molander

Gustaf Molander

Scandinavian Silent Film

Lars Hanson

No comments: