Mauritz Stiller (1883-1928) was Werner’s magnificent obsession in film history: he researched no other subject with the same dedication over such an extended amount of time, resulting in several works. In 1969 he published Mauritz Stiller och hans filmer: 1912- 1916 and released the short Stiller-fragment. Eighteen years later, Mauritz Stiller followed. The greatest pleasure of this midlength endeavour may very well be Werner’s wonderful commentary: just listen to the opening lines, and the zest with which he evokes Stiller’s physique (though Werner omits any mention of Stiller’s homosexuality, merely stating that his personal life was disharmonic). There’s something deeply late-19th-century about his choice of words, the length of his sentences, and their rhythm – as if Stiller were the protagonist of a realist novel describing in detail how 20th-century culture and mores were born.     

Olaf Möller and Jon Wengström