Greengagesummer
Joined Feb 2006
Welcome to the new profile
Our updates are still in development. While the previous version of the profile is no longer accessible, we're actively working on improvements, and some of the missing features will be returning soon! Stay tuned for their return. In the meantime, the Ratings Analysis is still available on our iOS and Android apps, found on the profile page. To view your Rating Distribution(s) by Year and Genre, please refer to our new Help guide.
Badges2
To learn how to earn badges, go to the badges help page.
Reviews6
Greengagesummer's rating
Madame de Thebes was found in France a couple of years ago, and was after some hassle returned to Sweden where it was restored. This is the oldest Mauritz Stiller film now in existence.
The story is wacky - a gypsy is cursed by her father, so that she has to deny her illegitimate son in order for him to have a successful life. She gives him to a well-to-do lady who has lost her own child.
Later, he has grown up to be a politician who wants to become the foreign minister. He doesn't know that his real mother is the famous Madame de Thebes, the fortuneteller who all politicians make sure to visit! This information falls into the hands of a rival, who tries to use it to ruin his career. Meanwhile, the rival's attractive daughter is attacked by a ruffian and needs to be rescued...
It's interesting to see how gypsies are depicted in this film. They aren't presented as evil, but it's taken for granted that they can do magic, and there is apparently a great social stigma attached to anyone who is associated with them - the rival can ruin the hero's entire political career simply by revealing that his mother is a gypsy, for instance.
The concept of a political fortuneteller seemed odd to me at first, but the character Madame de Thebes was apparently based on a real person.
There are a lot of striking images in this film. You can see the beauty of them even if the state of the print is far from perfect. The Norwegian actress Ragna Wettergreen gives a haunting performance as Madame de Thebes, with wisdom and regret - and quite a few melodramatic gestures. Understatement was not the norm in those days.
All the original tints have been restored, and the music at the showing I attended was beautiful and very fitting. The composer, Matti Bye, ought to make sure his music scores make it to future DVD releases of Swedish silent films.
The story is wacky - a gypsy is cursed by her father, so that she has to deny her illegitimate son in order for him to have a successful life. She gives him to a well-to-do lady who has lost her own child.
Later, he has grown up to be a politician who wants to become the foreign minister. He doesn't know that his real mother is the famous Madame de Thebes, the fortuneteller who all politicians make sure to visit! This information falls into the hands of a rival, who tries to use it to ruin his career. Meanwhile, the rival's attractive daughter is attacked by a ruffian and needs to be rescued...
It's interesting to see how gypsies are depicted in this film. They aren't presented as evil, but it's taken for granted that they can do magic, and there is apparently a great social stigma attached to anyone who is associated with them - the rival can ruin the hero's entire political career simply by revealing that his mother is a gypsy, for instance.
The concept of a political fortuneteller seemed odd to me at first, but the character Madame de Thebes was apparently based on a real person.
There are a lot of striking images in this film. You can see the beauty of them even if the state of the print is far from perfect. The Norwegian actress Ragna Wettergreen gives a haunting performance as Madame de Thebes, with wisdom and regret - and quite a few melodramatic gestures. Understatement was not the norm in those days.
All the original tints have been restored, and the music at the showing I attended was beautiful and very fitting. The composer, Matti Bye, ought to make sure his music scores make it to future DVD releases of Swedish silent films.
Mauritz Stiller's most well known comedy is Erotikon (1920). The comedies he made before that, Kärlek och journalistik (Love and Journalism), Tomas Graals bästa film (Thomas Graal's best film), and Thomas Graals bästa barn (Thomas Graal's best child), are usually described as lesser movies which show the promise of better things to come. It's all a matter of individual taste, since comedy is subjective, but I thought these little 1910's movies were much more enjoyable than Erotikon. They are less controlled, and more zany. And Karin Molander has bigger parts in them.
Love and Journalism is very light fare, of course. It will not stay in your memory long, or if it does, you won't remember what the story was about. You will remember Karin Molander's cheerfully mischievous face as she scrubs her love-interest's shoes clean, or when, clad in a pajamas and a night cap, she makes herself comfortable on the divan with a news paper - and a cigarette! Karin Molander seems to play modern, sassy young women in most of her comedies. This comedy persona works so well for her, that I think she must have been a bit like that in real life. She has a great screen presence, which is what makes this movie worthwhile.
Love and Journalism is very light fare, of course. It will not stay in your memory long, or if it does, you won't remember what the story was about. You will remember Karin Molander's cheerfully mischievous face as she scrubs her love-interest's shoes clean, or when, clad in a pajamas and a night cap, she makes herself comfortable on the divan with a news paper - and a cigarette! Karin Molander seems to play modern, sassy young women in most of her comedies. This comedy persona works so well for her, that I think she must have been a bit like that in real life. She has a great screen presence, which is what makes this movie worthwhile.
