Der Furhmann des Todes + Live-Act

The Sloth performs live, perfectly synchronized with the silent film

The Charioteer of Death—a silent film from 1921:
Victor Sjöström directed the film and played the lead role. This film launched his career in Hollywood, where he went on to make *The Wind* and *The Scarlet Letter*. Typical of almost all of Sjöström’s films—and unusual for the time—is his portrayal of broken male characters and strong women. “The Carriage of Death” is based on a novella by Selma Lagerlöf, who also served as a consultant to Sjöström. She was the first woman to win the Nobel Prize in Literature, in part because of this novella. Nevertheless, the film is not intellectual or overly cerebral, unlike the German Expressionist films of that era.

Another unique aspect of this film is that it was the first in cinematic history to use double exposures. This is striking because two filmed sequences are superimposed on top of each other. To achieve this, they had to be perfectly synchronized—and this at a time when cameras were hand-cranked. That was true craftsmanship. The scene starting at 1:12 might even look familiar to you. Stanley Kubrick references it almost perfectly in *The Shining*. *The Charioteer of Death* is generally considered one of the most referenced films in history.

The only German version of the film currently available plays too fast because it’s set to the modern 30 fps instead of the historically accurate 25 fps. The version we’re showing on October 30 is authorized by the Swedish Film Institute and runs at the correct speed. German subtitles will be provided.