Barabbas (1953 film)

Barabbas
Barabbas
	Film poster
Directed by	Alf Sjöberg
Written by	Pär Lagerkvist; Alf Sjöberg
Produced by	Rune Waldekranz
Starring	Ulf Palme
Cinematography	Sven Nykvist; Göran Strindberg
Edited by	Eric Nordemar
Distributed by	Sandrews
Release date	5 May 1953;
Running time	119 minutes
Country	Sweden
Language	Swedish

Barabbas is a 1953 Swedish drama film directed by Alf Sjöberg. It is based on the 1950 novel Barabbas by Pär Lagerkvist about the biblical character who was released instead of Jesus. The film was entered in the 1953 Cannes Film Festival.^[1] It was one of the biggest Swedish productions of its time. In 1961 an American adaptation of the same novel was released, starring Anthony Quinn in the lead role.

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Ulf Palme as Barabbas
Georg Årlin as Lazarus
Hugo Björne as Leper at Death Valley
Eva Dahlbeck as The Mother
Sture Ericson as Father of hare-lipped
Sven-Eric Gamble as Christian in slave caves at Rome
Åke Grönberg as Armful watchman at Rome
Erik Hell as Man at Jerusalem
Anders Henrikson as Roman procurator on Cyprus
Barbro Hiort af Ornäs as Maria of Magdala
Jarl Kulle as Leper at Death Valley
Torsten Lilliecrona as Supervisor at copper mine on Cyprus
Peter Lindgren as Soldier which assaulted gang
Yvonne Lombard as Prostitute
Holger Löwenadler as Thief
Stig Olin as Member of Barabbas' gang
Per Oscarsson as Boy
Gösta Prüzelius as Member of Barabbas' gang
Sif Ruud as Fat Woman
Gunnar Sjöberg as Supervisor at copper mine on Cyprus
Erik Strandmark as Petrus

After a year of preparation, shooting started in the spring of 1952 in Israel and Rome, and then moved to Sweden for interior scenes during the summer. As the assigned cinematographer Göran Strindberg became ill early during production, the still up-and-coming Sven Nykvist, later star cinematographer for Ingmar Bergman, had to replace him for the exterior shots. Additional filming occurred during the autumn and into December.^[2]