Masterworks Of Silent Cinema: Sir Arne's (1919)

Mauritz Stiller, one of Sweden's founding fathers of film, creates a monumental and bleak epic about three Scottish aristocrats in Sweden in the 16th century. After escaping from prison, the men commit a heinous crime, murdering a wealthy landowner named Sir Arne and stealing his treasure. The story takes a complicated turn as a young girl falls in love with one of the murderers, but then must betray him once she realizes the atrocity he has committed. With overtones of MACBETH and morality plays, SIR ARNE'S TREASURE uses the bitter winter of Sweden as a backdrop to this desolate masterpiece of the silent era.