Mans Reutersward Movies

Though only active in early Swedish cinema for two years, filmmaker Georg af Klercker was prolific and influential. Between 1916 and late 1918, he made 10 shorts and 18 feature-length movies in his independent studio. Klercker was forcibly bought out by his chief competitor Charles Magnusson in 1918. Largely because Magnusson preferred the work of directors Victor Sjostrom and Mauritz Stiller, Klercker's work has been all but forgotten. But Sweden's best-known director Ingmar Bergman did not forget and in 1994 penned a one-act play about Klercker. This brief drama is an adaptation of that play and is set a few years after the sale of his studio. With his career in shambles, Klercker returns to Magnusson's studio to beg him for a chance to direct again. While drinking too much of Magnusson's liquor, Klercker's pleas become increasingly desperate and unpleasant tirades about past indignities levelled upon him by Magnusson, who sits quietly by and allows Klercker to verbally hang himself. The actual production lasts 45 minutes. A 10-minute film about Klercker and early Swedish film precedes the story. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide