The multitudes of Max von Sydow
[IN MEMORIAM] Empire’s Kim Newman programmes a four-film retrospective that reveals the many shades of the iconic Swedish actor, who died last month FILM 1: SHAME (1968)
Max von Sydow came to the cinema in the stock company of Swedish director Ingmar Bergman — in The Seventh Seal, their first collaboration, von Sydow is the raw-faced knight playing chess with Death. They made 11 films together in total; the best when teamed with co-star Liv Ullmann — Hour Of The Wolf, The Passion Of Anna and most notably Shame, in which he is a failed musician in a troubled marriage, struggling on a farm as war causes the breakdown of society. Filmed and released while the war in Vietnam raged, it reflected the real-life conflict through themes of shame and moral decline. FILM 2: THE EXORCIST (1973)
When Hollywood needed a Christ for the all-star The Greatest Story Ever Told, von Sydow accepted the crown of thorns. This prepared him for more sainthood and martyrdom as Lankester Merrin in William Friedkin’s horror classic. The 43-year-old actor was made up to look much older — unusually, he did age the way make-up man Dick Smith imagined — and featured in the iconic man-of-god-outside-the-house-of-evil poster image. Without the make-up, he played the younger Merrin in the ill-fated Exorcist II. FILM 3: FLASH GORDON (1980)
International movies often cast von Sydow as a villain — he had more than his fair share of Nazis (Escape To Victory), Soviets (The Kremlin Letter) and merciless hit men (Three Days Of The Condor), plus a cameo as Blofeld in Never Say Never Again. It’s to his credit that he never walked through or looked down on these roles — and, in Mike Hodges’ delirious comicstrip space opera, he invests world-destroying tyrant Ming The Merciless with every atom of his talent, delivering a turn as indelible as his weightiest art-film performances. FILM 4: NEEDFUL THINGS (1993)
Having already played Jesus and Father Merrin, von Sydow proved he was a rare actor who could serve heaven and hell by delivering a memorable Devil in the Stephen King adaptation Needful Things. As antique shop owner Leland Gaunt, von Sydow extends temptations to the folk of King’s Castle Rock with charming wickedness. “Oh… you know, there are days I really hate this job,” he muses as the town burns. “This is not my best work, by a long shot. Oh, sure, a few murders and a couple of rather lovely explosions. I would hardly call it a rousing success, but what the hell? I’ll be back.”