Product Details

• Actors: Victor Sjostrom, Ingmar Bergman, Edith Erastoff
• Directors: Victor Sjostrom, Gosta Werner
• Format: Color, DVD, NTSC, Silent, Subtitled
• Language: Swedish
• Subtitles: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: KINO INTERNATIONAL
• DVD Release Date: July 29, 2008
• Run Time: 135 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B0018W2KZW
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #137,524 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "The Outlaw and His Wife / Victor Sjostrom (Double Feature)" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

THE OUTLAW AND HIS WIFE (1918) - Co-Written, Directed and Starring Victor Sjostrom - Plus VICTOR SJOSTROM (1981) - A Documentary Directed by Gosta Werner and Featuring Ingmar Bergman.

A masterpiece of the Swedish silent cinema, Victor Sjostrom s THE OUTLAW AND HIS WIFE is a film of remarkable psychological complexity, which bore aprofound influence on the work of Ingmar Bergman and Carl Theodor Dreyer. When a mysterious stranger (played by Sjostrom) is hired on at a farm by its widowed owner (Edith Erastoff, who would later become Sjostrom s wife), a romantic bond quickly forms. But the man s troubled past foils their chances at happiness, and forces them to seek refuge in the nearby mountains. Sjostrom s masterful use of landscape is visually and dramatically stunning, particularly in the film s latter half, as the couple battles both their pursuers and nature itself, culminating in an unforgettable climax. Also featured on this DVD is Gösta Werner s 1981 documentary VICTOR SJOSTROM, which recounts the life and career of the legendary Swedish director, with commentary by his longtime admirer, director Ingmar Bergman.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Beware! Only 70 min., August 29, 2008

By 

Sevisan "Sevisan." (Madrid.) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Outlaw and His Wife / Victor Sjostrom (Double Feature) (DVD)

Most silent films, damaged by the course of the time, exist in different versions of different running time, but when a DVD is released is supossed to be the most complete version existing (for instance, the Flicker Alley DVD of "La roue").

Well, this is not the case with the Kino "The outlaw and his wife" (price: 27 $ !). This is a very truncated version and shouldn't have been released in such conditions. Its running time is only 70 min., when nowadays exists a version of 105 min. that I have seen four or five years ago in the Madrid Filmoteca and in the french TV channel Arte.

The truncated Kino DVD version is, I suppose, the existing in the Kino shelves and released in VHS many years ago. That's very bad !

Not to speak of the nasty tinted of "Terje Vigen" in the companion DVD, that destroys the range of grey light and shadow of the original.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Stunning Scenery and Wonderful Atmosphere, September 6, 2004

By 

Barbara (Burkowsky) Underwood (Tumut, NSW Australia) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: The Outlaw and His Wife [VHS] (VHS Tape)

This is the film that gave the Swedish film industry international recognition in 1917, and after nearly a century it's still easy to see why. The main attraction of this film is surely the scenery - the tundra of northern Scandinavia - which creates the rugged setting for this story about life in 19th century Iceland. I found the unusual colour tinting (often shades of pinkish-purple) actually highlights the scenery and gives those images a haunting beauty and special atmosphere. Together with an unusual orchestral score, which also includes some Scandinavian folk tunes, I found myself transported to the time and place that Victor Sjoestroem had in mind. Sjoestroem is probably best remembered for directing "The Wind" with Lillian Gish, which also places emphasis on the environment and its effects on people. In this earlier film, Sjoestroem directed and played the lead role of a petty thief hiding from the law, eventually escaping with his new wife -who sacrifices wealth and comfort for him - to live in the raw beauty of the wild mountains.

On a slightly negative note however, "The Outlaw and His Wife" is not the easiest silent film to watch. Most intertitles are lengthy or involved and are shown a bit too briefly, so you have to read quickly! Some indoor scenes are quite dark, and some parts appear jerky or disconnected, so it requires a little extra attention to follow and appreciate the story more fully. It's worth the effort though, in my opinion, for the overall atmosphere and the mood it leaves behind.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A neglected silent classic., May 23, 2001

By 

darragh o'donoghue - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Outlaw and His Wife [VHS] (VHS Tape)

It is a cliche that Victor Sjostrom's films dramatise the conflict between nature and society, but his treatment is less simplistic than might be first apparent. For instance, in 'The Outlaw and his Wife', society may be ruled by a brutal, land-grabbing bailiff, who whips servants for losing a sheep; but it is also a place rich in pageantry, costume and rite, where communities can express themselves.

Likewise, nature might be a site of freedom for social outcasts, a sustaining idyll for lovers, and an awe-inspiring backdrop; but it also overflows in the lonely vagrant who nearly rapes his friend's wife, or the cliffs and snows that can kill.

Throughout, Sjostrom shifts impressively between registers - nature as a real force, and as a symbolic backdrop; plot as both social depiction and spiritual journey - while retaining the familiar pleasures of the action genre.