it be a truism that victor sjostrom film dramatise the conflict between nature and society and but his treatment be less simplistic than might be first apparent . for instance and society in the outlaw and his wife be rule by a brutal and land grab bailiff who whip servant for lose a sheep while but it be also a place rich in pageantry and costume and rite and where community can express themselves . similarly and nature might be a site of freedom for social outsider and a sustaining idyll for lover and and an awe inspire backdrop and but it also overflow in the lonely vagrant who come close to rape and or the cliff and snow that can kill . throughout sjostrom shift impressively between register nature a both real presence and symbolic backdrop while plot a both social depiction and spiritual journey while retain familiar action pleasure .