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Day of Wrath (1943)
Vredens dag (original title)
Director: Carl Theodor Dreyer
Cast: Thorkild Roose, Lisbeth Movin, Sigrid Neiiendam
Genre: Drama, History
Language: Danish
Bravo! I'm impressed...I starting watching this late at night and wasn't in the mood for a movie, but right from the start the movie hooked me and drew me into it's dark netherworld of religious zealots and witch hunts. Set in the dark days of 17th century Denmark...a time when women were powerless and the church and the men who called themselves holy had the power of life and death over those poor souls accused of witchcraft.
The film has this air about it, like time standing still. The people speak in slow weighted speech, as if their entire world is dark and bleak and each second is an entirety...Only when Anne falls in love with Martin does the tone lighten some...but even then it's a foreboding happiness and the heady atmosphere of despair fills each scene, layered on top of her joy. This is a very atmospheric film.
Besides the dramatic opening act , the film is subdued. There's something about the stillness and lack of action that speaks louder than words. This is sublime film making, it says a lot with little dialogue and less action.
All of the cast was well suited to fitting their archetypes. I scarcely even thought of them as actors. I took them for the real thing as if I had a telescope that could see back to the 17th century. I especially was intrigued by Lisbeth Movin, Ann who was the young wife of the Reverend. She had both a sincere and otherworldly quality about her, that made her seem alive....while the Reverend and his mother seemed to be the walking dead.
.
Vredens dag (original title)
Director: Carl Theodor Dreyer
Cast: Thorkild Roose, Lisbeth Movin, Sigrid Neiiendam
Genre: Drama, History
Language: Danish
"The young wife of an aging priest falls in love with his son amidst the horror of a merciless witch hunt in 17th century Denmark."
Bravo! I'm impressed...I starting watching this late at night and wasn't in the mood for a movie, but right from the start the movie hooked me and drew me into it's dark netherworld of religious zealots and witch hunts. Set in the dark days of 17th century Denmark...a time when women were powerless and the church and the men who called themselves holy had the power of life and death over those poor souls accused of witchcraft.
The film has this air about it, like time standing still. The people speak in slow weighted speech, as if their entire world is dark and bleak and each second is an entirety...Only when Anne falls in love with Martin does the tone lighten some...but even then it's a foreboding happiness and the heady atmosphere of despair fills each scene, layered on top of her joy. This is a very atmospheric film.
Besides the dramatic opening act , the film is subdued. There's something about the stillness and lack of action that speaks louder than words. This is sublime film making, it says a lot with little dialogue and less action.
All of the cast was well suited to fitting their archetypes. I scarcely even thought of them as actors. I took them for the real thing as if I had a telescope that could see back to the 17th century. I especially was intrigued by Lisbeth Movin, Ann who was the young wife of the Reverend. She had both a sincere and otherworldly quality about her, that made her seem alive....while the Reverend and his mother seemed to be the walking dead.
.