Sometimes I can't help but feel that cinema really did lose something with the transition to sound pictures. There's a purity of artistry and storytelling to some silent films that the best efforts to replicate with an audiovisual presentation cannot achieve, and within minutes of pressing "play" I believe 'A man there was' to be a prime example. With no need for music, dialogue, or any sound at all, and without explicit description of the plot, filmmaker Victor Sjöström gives us a splendidly complete, engrossing tale adjoined only by the verse of Henrik Ibsen in intertitles. That stupendously smart, flowery language heightens the viewer's reverie while Julius Jaenzon's vivid, vibrant cinematography captures only the richest of imagery, and Sjöström as director conducts the proceedings with the firm mindfulness of a true master. Every small scene in and of itself rather seems to tell a resplendently whole, satisfying short story, be it only seconds or minutes long. How often can the same be said of any film, least of all "talkies" wherein further development of technology encouraged ever more complex, drawn-out narratives?
Guided by and exercising Ibsen's 'Terje Vigen' like a sculptor working with the most delicate of materials, Sjöström and co-writer Gustaf Molander had all they needed to sketch the framework of the cinematic adaptation. Mirroring the supreme attentive care of a genuine icon of literature, the feature rather seems to have leapt from its creators' minds fully formed, with distinct and archetypal characters - filling scenes that are as perfect in their conveyance of mood, idea, and story beat in execution as they were in imagination - weaving a saga that is brief, but raptly compelling, exciting, dreary, heartfelt, entertaining, engrossing, and absolutely human. There isn't the slightest trace of this piece that is remotely out of place, or anything less than flawless. The acting is as natural and real as if we were watching events unfold in real life. Sjöström's direction, his guidance of the cast (himself included) and orchestration of shot and scene, is utterly impeccable, and genuinely brilliant, with every vision to greet us a stroke of awe-inspiring genius. Jaenzon's photography, once more, is a true joy to behold, not least for the situations and camera placement that was sometimes necessary.
Every expression of face or body, every action taken, and every shot merely of the vast, open sea contains multitudes in its fraction of celluloid existence, communicating a discrete plot but also a universe of beauty and suffering, life and death. Factor in the gorgeous filming locations, exceptional production design, and great hair and makeup work and costume design: what, here, is less than exemplary? Factor in the way in which Sjöström so smoothly sweeps up the ocean itself into his team of collaborators, letting the harsh, ancient, fathomless depths and rolling waves become a character itself in the tableau - much as would also be true of the wilderness in 1918's 'The outlaw and his wife': what; here, is anything but stellar?
For all the many ways - every possible way - in which it's both totally beyond reproach, and totally spellbinding, 'A man there was' might actually be one of the greatest films ever made. That's no small feat for a title clocking in at one hour that was made in 1917. Why, for as fast as the picture holds one's attention it passes as quickly as lightning; for as sumptuously robust, satisfying, and rewarding as it is, it feels at least twice as long as it is in reality. So little was it that Sjöström required to fashion a feature of such excellence; so, so very much was it that he gifted us, above and beyond what most filmmakers have been able to accomplish with exponentially more resources in all the years since. In so short a runtime there is such a boundless, wholehearted, exhaustive, grand, dazzling elegance that it's hard to draw any immediate comparison. What more can I say? 'A man there was' is a quintessential, must-see classic, earning only my very highest recommendation. Bravo!
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