The Saga of Gosta Berling
The Saga of Gösta Berling () is a 1924 Swedish romantic drama film directed by Mauritz Stiller and released by AB Svensk FAB Svensk Filmindustri, starring Lars Hanson, Gerda Lundequist and Greta Garbo in her domestic film breakthrough. It is based on Swedish Nobel Prize-winning author Selma Lagerlöf's 1891 debut novel "Gösta Berlings saga". The film is also known as Gösta Berling's Saga, The Story of Gösta Berling and The Atonement of Gösta Berling. Plot. Gösta Berling, a Lutheran vicar, is sacked because of his inappropriate life style. He entertains a wealthy lady  who in return supports him. Following a variety of adventures he meets up with Elizabeth Dohna, a former duchess, and they start a new life together. Release. Restorations. The film was originally released in two parts in Sweden, "Gösta Berlings saga del I" on 10 March 1924, and "Gösta Berlings saga del II" seven days later. The two-part version was also released in Finland and Norway, but for the rest of the world a shorter, one-part export version was made. In 1927 the film was recut, almost halving its running time. This was the only version that was  archived. In 1933 a sound version was released theatrically in Stockholm, with the intertitles removed, along with additional edits and some reordering of the scenes. Most of the missing material was discovered 20 years later and a restored version with new intertitles was released in theatres. The Swedish Film Institute added newly found fragments throughout the years, but as of the 1975 restoration about 450 metres of film from the original cut remained missing. In February 2018, the completion of a new, comprehensive restoration was announced. The 2018 version is 16 minutes longer than the previous restoration and brings the  film close to its original running time. It also restores the film's tinting scheme for the first time since its original release. Home media. In 2008, a Swedish DVD was released by AB Svensk Filmindustri, with English, French, Portuguese, Spanish and German subtitles. The 192-minute restoration played at 184 minutes, due to PAL's 4% speed-up. It featured a specially commissioned 2005 score by pianist and silent film music composer Matti Bye. The same version was also released on US DVD in 2006, by Kino International. It also played at 184 minutes as the NTSC DVD used  the unconverted PAL transfer.