Undescribable Perfection

One of the best films i have seen

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

This is not one of my favourite af Klercker films. A tale of secret documets (a new explosive invented) and a not very masterly master-ciminal who is after the plans - a typical "McGuffin" of the period. It is very typical of a kind of film that was becoming increasingly popular especially in north Europe (Germany and the Netherlands) and, in its slightly later form, would have an enormous influence on the young Hitchcock. But This one is a confused and rather pointless story. However, as always with af Klercker worth watchinf for the mise en scène (albeit less good than normal) and the splendid locations (this time a fortress on a mountainous island in Kungälv (a region where he also filmed I minnenas band in the same year) which makes for a thrilling finale.

Fången på Karlstens fästning (The Prisoner of the Karlsten Fortress) is an adventure story directed by Georg af Klercker, a director who was mostly active during the 1910's. Georg af Klercker was a rival to the more famous Swedish directors Mauritz Stiller and Victor Sjöström. He filmed stories of sensational content, which sometimes got him into trouble with the censors. Few of his movies survive today, but those that do are distinguished by their beautiful photography. So is Fången.The villains of the piece are after a formula for an explosive. They kidnap the daughter of the man who owns the formula, because she has seen them steal it. Their theft is ill-planned, and several people witness the abduction of the lady - people they do not try to silence. Luckily for them, they have a fortress in the middle of the sea to escape to.The story for this movie is not believable. The villains are really clumsy. There are some interesting lightning effects used in the fortress scenes which are reminiscent of the Danish Det Hemmelighedsfulde X, directed by Benjamin Christensen two years earlier. The scenes inside the valves of the castle might have inspired Mauritz Stiller, who used a similar kind of aesthetic in Sir Arne's Treasure. It is also noteworthy that the heroine escapes through her own resourcefulness. She manages to send a message to some fishermen about her whereabouts, and gets herself away from the clutches of the kidnappers in order to meet her rescuers when they arrive.This was the era of the serial queen, after all. It's a shame it didn't last.