The Wings (film)

The Wings

Nils Asther in the film
Directed by Mauritz Stiller
Written by Axel Esbensen
Mauritz Stiller
Starring Egil Eide
Lars Hanson
Lili Bech
Julius Hälsig
Cinematography Julius Jaenzon
Distributed by Svenska Biografteatern
Release dates
 1916
Running time
 69 minutes
Country Sweden
Language Swedish

The Wings (Swedish: Vingarne) is a 1916 Swedish silent film directed by Mauritz Stiller, starring Egil Eide, Lars Hanson, Lili Bech, and Julius Hälsig, and was based on Herman Bang's 1902 novel Mikaël, which was the same source Carl Theodor Dreyer used for his 1924 film Michael.

Besides being an early gay-themed film, it is also notable for its innovative use of a framing story and telling the plot primarily through the use of flashbacks.

Plot

The story is that of a conniving countess (played by Lili Bech) coming between a gay sculptor, Claude Zoret (Egil Eide), and his bisexual model and lover, Mikaël (Lars Hanson), ultimately leading to Zoret's death in a raging storm at the base of a statue of Mikaël as the mythological Icarus.

Preservation status

The film is largely lost, with only half an hour surviving of the original 70-minute film. A restoration was made using still photos and title cards to bridge the missing sections in 1987.

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