Day of Wrath (1943) - Carl Theodor Dreyer
Thematically, this was one of the more interesting films I've seen in a while. Set in 17th century, Day of Wrath explored one of the darkest periods of Christianity and humanity in general. And that was witch hunting... With the establishment of inquisition in 13th century for the purpose of eradicating heresy, the persecution of innocent women soon began. At the time, literally any woman could of been accused of being a witch, without any evidence presented as well. Usually those were poor, old and seedy women who didn't have anyone to intercede for them. They were accused of ridiculous things like "killing with their look" or being guilty of elementary disaster. In order to extort confession out of them some of the most brutal torture devices were used, as well as the cruel methods of interrogation. It's actually scary to think that this praxis remained all the way to late 18th century.
Judging from the literature I've read about it, the film seemed very much realistic. It was just fascinating to see how genuinely consumed people were in their intolerance, ignorance, narrow- mindedness and hypocrisy. That's why I think that Martha's plotline was by far the most powerful aspect of the film. Slow-paced interrogation scene combined with torture was a horrifying watch, despite many of it not being shown on screen. And when the actual "burning scene" appeared, I was immediately reminded of the similar scene in Bergman's "Seventh Seal". Similarly to Bergman, Dreyer deliberately used glacial pace to faithfully demonstrate the agony of an old woman and to create a certain uneasiness for the viewer. Black and white cinematography also helped in creating film's gloomy ambient. Because most of the characters were dressed in black, they often looked like dark silhouettes, which helped to establish themes of death and evil. Admittedly ,I didn't care much for the romance between Anna and Martin. I thought it was a bit of a letdown after an impressionable first half. It just dragged on for too long and I thought that both actors were overly theatrical in their scenes together. On the other hand I thought Thorkild Roose ( Absalon) was brilliant as an old pastor who is forced to face with his own mortality and the fact that his young wife doesn't love him. It was little details that made his performance special like his shaky voice, remorseful look or how his left hand started to furiously shake when Anna confessed her romance with Martin to him. Sigrid Neiiendam (Merete) was also very good, as an overly possessive mother who is constantly frigid towards her daughter in law. Big fan of the ending sequence ! Haunting sounds of the child choir combined with an act of humiliation Anna is objected to and ultimately her resignation as she realizes the pointlessness of her existence and the pain she'll have to deal with if she continued to live. Brilliant !
Overall I think this was an impressive film, despite being uneven at times. Great nomination !
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