The double-exposure effect of the New Year’s Eve phantoms in THE PHANTOM CARRIAGE (1921, Sjöström) x the double-exposure effect of the Woodsmen in TWIN PEAKS (2017, Lynch).
The 1921 film was innovative in the extent & narrative ends of its use of superimposition: “Sjöström… used double exposures in The Phantom Carriage to create the illusion of two worlds – one natural, the other supernatural – in the same space.” (https://www.sensesofcinema.com/2010/cteq/the-phantom-carriage/#11)
Certainly there have been many other creative uses of double exposure in films over the years to suggest supernatural goings-on, but the use of it in THE PHANTOM CARRIAGE still feels eerily effective to a modern viewer, & acts as a precursor to its similar usages in TWIN PEAKS…
THE PHANTOM CARRIAGE is also known for its influence on other classic films like THE SHINING (1980, Kubrick), as well as Bergman films like THE SEVENTH SEAL (1957) & WILD STRAWBERRIES (also 1957).
Anyway, given that the 1921 film’s plot largely revolves around New Year’s Eve, using the holiday as a marker for spiritual reckoning & rebirth, it felt appropriate to post about this today.
“I would like them to dwell on a single New Year's prayer:”