''Pan'' is a 1922 Norwegian

film A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are generally, sinc ...

directed by

Harald Schwenzen Harald Schwenzen (18 May 1895 – 16 April 1954) was a Norwegian actor and director. Born in Glücksberg, Germany, he relocated to Norway where he made his stage debut at Nationaltheatret in 1918, and played for this theatre for many years. ...

. It was the first of four film adaptations of the

novel A novel is an extended work of narrative fiction usually written in prose and published as a book. The word derives from the for 'new', 'news', or 'short story (of something new)', itself from the , a singular noun use of the neuter plural of ...

of the same name by 1920

Nobel Prize The Nobel Prizes ( ; ; ) are awards administered by the Nobel Foundation and granted in accordance with the principle of "for the greatest benefit to humankind". The prizes were first awarded in 1901, marking the fifth anniversary of Alfred N ...

winner

Knut Hamsun Knut Hamsun (4 August 1859 – 19 February 1952) was a Norwegian writer who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1920 Nobel Prize in Literature, 1920. Hamsun's work spans more than 70 years and shows variation with regard to conscio ...

, and one of the earliest Scandinavian adaptations of a Hamsun work (preceded only by a 1921 film of ''

Growth of the Soil ''Growth of the Soil'' ( Norwegian ''Markens Grøde'') is a novel by Knut Hamsun which won him the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1920. It follows the story of a man who settles and lives in rural Norway. First published in 1917, it has since been ...

''). It tells the story of a romance between a wealthy woman and a soldier, and was filmed in

Nordland Nordland (; , , , ) is one of the three northernmost Counties of Norway, counties in Norway in the Northern Norway region, bordering Troms in the north, Trøndelag in the south, Norrbotten County in Sweden to the east, Västerbotten County to t ...

and in

Algeria Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...

(standing in for the Indian locations in the novel). According to author Donald Dewey, ''Pan'' was popular with the Norwegian public, but when Hamsun himself was asked for his reaction, he commented only, "I don’t understand film and I am in bed with the flu," and hung up.Donald Dewey
"Edging Out of Darkness" Norway’s Long Struggle to Establish a Thriving Film Industry"
, ''Scandinavian Review'' (

The American-Scandinavian Foundation The American-Scandinavian Foundation (ASF) is an American non-profit foundation dedicated to promoting international understanding through educational and cultural exchange between the United States and Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Swe ...

), Autumn 2010, pp. 18, 30. Michael Wilmington of the ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is an American daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1847, it was formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper", a slogan from which its once integrated WGN (AM), WGN radio and ...

'' describes it as "A fine film and a real discovery".

References

External links

* 1922 films 1920s Norwegian-language films Norwegian black-and-white films 1922 drama films Films based on works by Knut Hamsun Silent Norwegian drama films {{Norway-film-stub