#125: DREYER, Carl Th.: Day Of Wrath (1943)

CARL THEODOR DREYER BOX SET {Spine #124}

DREYER, Carl Th. (Denmark)

Day Of Wrath [1943]

Spine #125
DVD
OOP

Filmed during the Nazi occupation of Denmark, Carl Dreyer's Day of Wrath (Vredens dag) is a harrowing account of individual helplessness in the face of growing social repression and paranoia. Anna, the young second wife of a well-respected but much older pastor, falls in love with her stepson when he returns to their small 17th-century village. Stepping outside the bound of the village's harsh moral code has disastrous results. Exquisitely photographed and passionately acted, Day of Wrath remains an intense, unforgettable experience.

97 minutes
Black & White

Monaural

in Danish

1:33:1 aspect ratio

Criterion Release 2001

Director/Writers

From the novel Anne Pedersdotter by Hans Wiers-Jenssens.

Screenplay by Carl Th. Dreyer.

Dreyer was 54 when he directed Day of Wrath.

Other Dreyer films in the Collection:

#706: Master Of The House (1925)
#62: The Passion Of Joan Of Arc (1928)
#437: Vampyr (1932)
#126: Ordet (1955)
#127: Gertrud (1964)

The Film

The opening credits scroll down the old illustrations of the Dies irae, accompanied by the chant.

**

It always seems amazing when great films are made during the occupation of a country. Kurosawa and Ozu made many during the American Occupation of Japan (1945-1952); or Marcel Carné’s Children of Paradise (1945) {Spine #141}, during the Nazi occupation of France.

After a decade between films (Dreyer’s previous film was 1932’s Vampyr {Spine #437}), it seems astonishing that he made such a powerful film during the Nazi occupation of Denmark. One can read lots of 1940s parallels to the 17th-century setting of the film — including the plight of the Jews (which Dreyer denied was intended) — not the least of which could be the inherent bigotry of over-zealous piety … that the occupiers allowed this film to be made speaks to either censors who could not see, or general indifference. In any case, Dreyer left for Sweden soon after the film came out.

It is a powerful film, driven by Dreyer’s patient filmic architecture, his amazing attention to detail, and the amazing performances of the cast: Thorkild Roose (Absalon), Lisbeth Movin (Anne), Sigrid Neiiendam (Meret), Preben Lerdorff Rye (Martin), — who would bring another wonderful performance to Dreyer’s 1955 film, Ordet {Spine #126} — and Anna Svierkier, as Herlof’s Marte (who perhaps delivers the most gut-wrenching performance in the film) …

This wasn’t Dreyer’s first film about burning witches — his earlier masterpiece The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928) {Spine #62} has a similar theme.

Unfortunately, in these times, the term “witch hunt” has taken a different and possibly even more sinister meaning …

Film Rating (0-60):

55

The Extras

The Booklet

Six-page wraparound featuring an essay by Jonathan Rosenbaum.

“We bear the frightening knowledge that genuine evil resides in this confined world, but without a capacity to locate it in literal sorcery, we paranoiacally find it everywhere and nowhere — in a kind of collective virus infecting a whole community without ever being clearly traceable to a single individual.”

Commentary

None.

Deleted footage

Of interviews from Torben Skjødt Jensen’s documentary Carl Th. Dreyer — My Métier (1995) {Spine #128}, with actors Lisbeth Movin and Preben Lerdorff Rye.

Both have fascinating anecdotes about Dreyer. For example, Movin reports that poor Svierkier, who was lashed to that ladder, was left there while the crew went to lunch so she would be sweating and have the right amount of righteous anger for the scene!

Stills gallery

Including costume sketches. 

Extras Rating (0-40):

34

55 + 34 =

89

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