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Carl Dreyer's The Passion of Joan of Arc is as truly mythic as any film ever shot, its artistic achievement rivaled by its turbulent history. The focal point of controversy when released in 1928, the original film was lost for a half-century until an intact copy of Dreyer's original version was recovered in the early '80s.

Seeing Joan of Arc today remains a cinematic revelation, its approach to storytelling, set design, editing, and especially cinematography (by Rudolph Maté, who also shot Dreyer's visionary Vampyr) radical then, and still strikingly modern many decades later. Influenced by both German expressionist film and the French avant-garde, Dreyer's huge set was designed with asymmetrical doors, windows, and arches, through which Maté's camera moves along equally off-centered, even vertiginous, but fluid trajectories. Although the story is epic in its implications, the film is composed primarily of extreme close-ups, especially of Joan and her principal interrogator, Bishop Cauchon, and medium shots of small groups, often shot from low angles. Dreyer and Maté shot their cast in bright light, without makeup, giving each wrinkle, blemish, or tuft of hair sculptural detail.

For all its visual invention, however, Dreyer's film is most devastating in its central performance by Falconetti (née Renee Falconetti), a French stage actress who made her only screen appearance here--one critic Pauline Kael has suggested "may be the finest performance ever recorded on film." Through Falconetti, Joan's spiritual devotion, simple dignity, and suffering become utterly real; even without a dialogue track and only sparse inter-titles, the film achieves a fevered eloquence.

This meticulous restoration also includes composer Richard Einhorn's beautiful oratorio, Voices of Light, inspired by Dreyer's film and set to texts by women mystics from medieval and early-Renaissance Europe. A luminous work on its own, Einhorn's oratorio matches both the dramatic arcs and tremulous emotions of Dreyer's film, while its juxtaposition of choral and solo voices (with early-music vocal quartet Anonymous 4 evoking Joan herself) echoes the martyr's confrontation with the court. --Sam Sutherland ... Read more

Reviews (99)

The best film I have ever seen
MY CURRENT RATINGS:
10/10 Movie: The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928)

The Passion of Joan of Arc (Dreyer 1928)

Once thought lost to the world, the film was pieced together in the 1980s from a Danish copy found miraculously in a mental hospital closet.

The introduction on the Criterion DVD tells us this. By film's end, you realize just what a blessing it is that this most beautifully crafted work of art, history and faith was not lost to us all.

I began my first viewing without the later-created score. Something told me to go ahead and add the inspired sounds, as they were approved and revered enough to accompany this most definitive copy of the piece.

From the second she comes on screen, Jeanne (Maria Falconetti) appears Divinely informed, set apart from her persecutors. The brilliance of Falconetti's performance cannot be overstated. Her eyes share a myriad of emotions in each frame, more than a thousand encyclopedias could convey.

I often say there are too many words in films today. I look to classics to find my respite. Silent films are the best vessels for such a cinefile.

The story of St. Joan of Arc is familiar to most today. We've seen everything from picture books to MTV videos imitating the final, passionate days of Her existence. She is somewhat a cult icon for young feminists, though I doubt this was Her purpose.

Whether you take Jeanne's passion as a believer, or a sympathetic, or a skeptic impressed by her self confidence in what she knew as truth, it is impossible to not love a woman so steadfast. One cannot imagine the horror behind those now famous eyes conveying Jeanne's final days here.

I admit being moved to tears on many occasions during this first viewing.

The framing was so emotional, showing angles that impart such immediate recognition of fear, anguish, faith that one can be expected to cry merely for the level of art.

The editing was also vastly fraught with feeling. During one of the film's most frenetic sequences, the pace quickens with a fervor of impending fright, and we are one with our protagonist.

One might think with all these incredible kudos, the film would fail somewhere. It cannot contain such a complete package of filmic greatness at such an early stage of the medium?

It can and does. Visual symbolism is resplendent. From a cross hidden as the window bars to a flock of birds lighting on the steeple, to a babe suckling its mother's milk as stark contrast to the events surrounding it.

Truly the most remarkable, crafted, and moving piece of cinema I have ever seen, heard or experienced.

10/10 and beyond. Every film should rise to the level of The Passion of Joan of Arc.

Restored herstorical trial
First off read the editors review, that sums it up. I just would like to add that the film blows you away with its musical score as performed by Annonymous Four. The cinematography and all aspects of film making are of the highest caliber and the music just further mesmerizes and adds to a fantastic performance by Renee Falconetti as Joan. The judges on behalf of the church are very evil and sinister looking, the camera work accentuates this masterfully. One judge has his typically monk fashion do looking demonic with hair ends from the side pointing straight up like horns. It is brilliant characterizations like this and the use of close ups that leads the viewer into what must have been an insane trial. Not to be missed by movie buffs, or anyone with an appreciation of fine film making before color and sound. Actually the musical score does more probably than a dialogue could have, the subtitles are fine and the restoration is like watching a "new" movie. Don't miss this brilliant vision by Carl Dreyer, a true masterpiece.

A true classic of cinema
This review is for the Criterion Collection DVD edition of the film

This movie is one of the most well known classics of Europe. The 2nd original print, long thought to be lost to fire, was miraculously found in the closet of a mental hospital in Norway in 1981. The 1st original was burned though.

The recent film, "Passion of the Christ" was not the only "passion" film to generate controversy. This film was thought to be anti-England due to its protrayal of their treatment to Joan of Arc. The French were also upset that a non-French and non-Catholic man directed the film. The film's dialoge (by intertitles as it is a silent film) is based on actual transcripts of Joan's trial which have managed to survive also. The film is said to be very moving for some people just like Gibson's "Passion of the Christ." Not being Catholic, I am not sure of what many of the elements of either film may refer to.

The DVD has numerous special features as always.

Audio commentary by Dryer scholar Casper Tybjerg of Copenhagen University (he has a thick Danish accent that is very nice)
Optional soundtrack for Richard Einhorn's "Voices of Light" (a musical piece inspired by the film)alsong with an essay about the music and a libretto booklet.
Production design archive
History of the many different cuts and alternat versions of the film
Audio-only interview with the star's daughter, Hélène Falconetti.

An extraordinary accident -
About 5-10 years ago, I asked my mother (then 70 yrs old or so) what the best movie she'd ever seen was. She said Carl Dryer's Joan of Arc, which then had not yet been re-released. When I told a film lover this, he said "oh, that was EASY." Intrigued I went to see the movie at Avery Fisher Hall at the new release with Einhorn's score. Well, I was speechless. It was nothing I expected it to be. And, as it happens, not what Carl Dryer expected either! He had to create it from rejected footage when the original version was destroyed in a fire. Proof of his genius, now one can't even imagine another version. With all of these close-ups that were originally rejected, could we still today be so amazed by it? Even up close, Maria Falconetti's performance is the most humble I have ever seen in my life. The script is just a court proceeding, which I believe was from the original court transcripts. Seeing the film, witnessing the ridiculous trial, and experiencing Maria Falconetti's soul, I went away feeling sad for the human race.

what gibson's passion should have been
one reads all too frequently a tagline like ' the greatest film of all time'.
like many, i read of this film for years before ever seeing it.
todd browning's freaks was also a film one read of for years before it became readily available.
the difference in finally encountering the two films is remarkable.
while brownings freaks is an essential film to see, it doesn't quite live up to it's expectations, mainly because of the badly stilted dialogue.
it undoubtedly would have been better as a silent film.
however, dreyer's passion leaves you no such dissapointment.
it is an unbelieveable work of art and ranks with chaplin's city lights as the most remarkable achievement in silent film.
and it is possibly the greatest film ever made and,for once, this is not an outrageous or exaggerated statement.
virtually, everything about it works. the only weakness lies in the titles which can be obtrusive. but,then, all films are flawed, of course.
it is fairly well known that dreyer wanted desparately to film the subject of christ and the passion.
chaplin too had wanted to play christ and said he was the perfect actor to do so as he was jewish by birth, an aetheist by choice, and a pantomimist.
he was probabaly right.
objectivity (like in the example of passolini's gospel according to st matthew)can actually lead to a stronger, more honest work of art.
mel gibson's recent proselytizing effort is the quintessential example of how having a personal agenda can actually lead to a monstrousely horrifying expression.
gibson's passion leaves the senses reeling from the onslaught of sadistic images.
not so here.
while the tragedy which befell joan is of unparamount dimensions,
our emotions and heart yearn during the course of the film without experiencing the type of nauseousness we feel from encontering gibson's unrelenting assault of macho torture.
here we experience the lessons of the sermon on the mount, the our father, the hail mary and the passion. and this is the type of balance we desperately need in a film of this nature.
oddly enough, a few years ago a friend of mine had never read the gopels and i encoraged her to read the gospel of john.
her honest reaction (a reaction without preconcieved notions) was that christ possessed an honest, effiminate, nurturing character.
how ironic then that dreyer could give us a female martyr and move us in a way that the macho gibson could not. ... Read more

Amazon.com

One of the most powerful and profound films about faith ever made, Carl Dreyer's Ordet (which translates to "The Word") turns a Romeo and Juliet story into a passionately spiritual drama of love and acceptance. Young lovers in a rural farming community are kept apart by the religious differences of their parents. But although the parents appear strict and ascetic, Dreyer gives them tender moments of unspoken love and a quiet dignity, revealing them as thinking, feeling people with deep beliefs who need a crisis to make them face their conflicts. They find unexpected guidance from Johannes, a mad young man who believes he is Christ, preaching love and forgiveness in a sad, hoarse voice as he wanders the fields and pads around his sparsely furnished home. "They believe in the miracles I wrought 2,000 years ago," he cries, "but they have no faith in me now."

Dreyer strips his austere vision to essentials: simple dialogue, a quietly gliding camera, and lovely but unadorned images. Windswept fields of grain and stark homes lit by cold light suggest a chilly existence, but Dreyer reveals a rich, if restrained, emotional world that explodes in feeling at the film's climax. It's a moment of utter cinematic simplicity that resonates with pure love and joy and faith. --Sean Axmaker ... Read more

Reviews (4)

Carl Theodor Dreyer's classic cinematic examination of faith
"Ordet" is one of the finest examinations of the nature of faith in cinema history. Johannes Borgen (Preben Lerdorff Rye) wanders an open field in the Danish countryside, believing himself to be Christ and preaching to the wind. A former theology student, Johannes had a mental breakdown as he grappled with the mysteries of faith. Meanwhile, his younger brother Anders (Cay Kristiansen) has fallen in love with Anne (Gerda Nielsen), the daughter of fundamentalist tailor (Ejnar Federspiel), a relationship of which their father Morten (Henrik Malberg) very much disapproves. Morten is a most pious man, who believes people should enjoy a personal, unstructured relationship with God. He had encouraged Johannes to study religion believing his son was ideally suited for helping restore the faith of the villagers in God. But now he is racked with guilt over his son's madness and religious divisions continue to destroy his family.

Director Carl Theodor Drever represents discrete theological positions in the four sons: Johannes attacks the skepticism of the modern world; Peter cannot tolerate putting organized religion above common decency; Anders refuses to allow theology to stand in the way of love; and Mikkel's agnosticism stops him from seeking God's help. The faith of Morten proves to be equally imperfect as he turns upon Johannes, dismissing his visions as mere delusions. In the end, Morten is a man who refuses to believe his prayers have been answered. Drever's style as a director is as austere as Ingmar Bergman's, but I think he succeeds in exploring the complexities of religion more in "Ordet" than Bergman does in all of his films combined (granted, Bergman ultimately focuses on issues other than religion).

One of the greatest spiritual cinematic masterpieces.
This film deserves 10 stars. Both in direction & the cinematography we are dealing with one of the greatest masters in the history of cinema, Carl Theodor Dreyer, a cinematic giant. Every film by Dreyer is a masterwork, but my favorite of all his films is ORDET (meaning The Word in Danish). This film might also have been titled THE MIRACLE. The acting is perfect, understated, naturalistic, without any thespian hystrionics or typical soupy music to pump up the scenes. Religious delusion can be viewed by some as great faith, and great faith can be viewed by others as religious delusion, & this film asks you which of these two views is what is happening. What is a miracle? Is it something special that only Christ or God or a Buddha can effect, or is it something which can happen at any time going against the laws of nature? This film opens such questions. The black and white imagery is not a lessening of the effect, but a heightening of the effect, for if this film had been in colour it would have lost something essential from its strong mysterious message. This film deals with bigotry and religious prejudice, as well as forgiveness and trust, but it never preaches, instead it opens the heart of the view to the profound mystery of Life & Death. It has the perfect inexorability of fate like a play by Euripides or Sophocles. On DVD or on tape, this is a film which anyone who loves the art of film must have. This is one of those films you cannot do without in your personal film library. I also recommend DAY OF WRATH and JOAN OF ARC by Carl Dreyer.

Resurrecting Faith
"It was Soren Kierkegaard." Mikkel Borgen

It's refreshing to view a film that not only has religous faith as its subject, but also has the insight to grasp the crux of belief and the fervour it generates. 'Ordet' displays faith and all its flaws, but in the end, you may find your faith revived, or you may just find faith. 'Ordet' is that powerful.

The plot rehashes the 'Romeo and Juliet' archetype, with two lovers bordering fundumental fences. Their fathers don't see eye to eye on religious views. There are a few other major characters, most notable being the reincarnation of Jesus.

While all the characters are quite round and easy to sympathize with, their rudimentary fuction is to allow Dreyer to ponder faith and its paradoxes. The film is basically all talk with very little action, which may be one of Dreyer's points. The characters argue about what constitutes faith, but you get the feeling that they find opposing arguments hollow. Only in the film's final scenes does any real "action" occur, when everyone stops arguing and turns the other cheek.

Perhaps only Dreyer's own 'The Passion of Joan of Arc' is a stronger meditation on the subject of faith. Whatever your denomination, 'Ordet' probably covers you. The film's strength lies in its presentation of religous ideals, and the conflicts which can arise from those ideals. Religious faith, like any other ideal, has the tendency to make people stubborn, in that only one ideal can exist. At the end of the film, Dreyer also seems to believe that only one ideal exists, one that requires a tremendous leap of faith.

Beautiful, spiritual film by a master film maker!
This is one of the most spiritual and uplifting films of all time. It is shot in the same, sparce, beautiful manner that Carl Dreyer employs in so many of his films. There are long lingering camera shots that allow us to look at a person as we might in real life...not like many Hollywood films where the camera angle jumps about every other second.

The story is a kind of Danish "Romeo and Juliet" about two families divided by religion. However, "Ordet" never becomes a tragedy, because of a miracle. Do you believe in miracles? How about the miracle of forgiveness and how it heals human relationships? This is a film to teach us all about that. ... Read more

Reviews (30)

One of the great horror films
Directed in France by the legendary Danish director Carl Dreyer,Vampyr is not only one of the best horror films but also probably one of the greatest films ever made. Unlike the American horror pictures like Frankenstein that were being made at the same time, Vampyr has relatively little action but a sustained atmosphere of strangeness like that of few other movies. The action takes place during one night and the entire film has a slow, trance-like quality. The picture quality of the DVD is vastly superior to that of the older videotapes--the film was photographed by the great Rudolph Mate--but the sound recording is shaky at the best, and the dialogue is hard to follow even for someone who understands German. The music comes across more effectively but is boomy in some passages--it's a good idea to reduce the bass before viewing. The DVD like an earlier video has quite large subtitles in Gothic type--designed I think to eliminate Danish subtitles--which unfortunately mask a third or so of the picture in some shots.

Poor transfer to DVD
This is a great film, one of the most spectral and haunting of all vampire movies. Admittedly, the available prints have been spotty at best. There was a restoration back in the late '60 that took the best footage from a German print and an English language dub print. Truly that effort did justice to Rudolph Matte's imaginative photography. Sadly, this is not that print. By far it's the worst transfer to DVD I've seen yet. The subtitles take up the lower half of the image, and they are gothic German letters on a black masked background! Who's guilty for that? It's become clear that old classics like this are getting rushed into release with little regard for quality, so buyer beware. With a hack job like this out in the market it'll be a long time (if ever) till we see a beautifully restored version of Carl Dreyer's masterpiece on DVD. If you're looking for quality check out Criterion's release of Dreyer's "Passion of Joan of Arc". It's a model of what can be accomplished on the restoration of an old film. With Richard Einhorn's score "The Passion of Joan of Arc" is as fresh and alive as any movie currently in theaters.

dreampyr
What's truly unnerving about Vampyr is it's not so much about monsters
as psychic monstrosity. Most movies objectify our fears and horrors,
materializing them into goblins, slashers, vampires, and whatnot. In
Vampyr, we are to forced to confront our state of mind, our fears as
they surface and take shape, then dissolve, then return to haunt us
yet again.

In most vampire movies, dracula is a frightening creature, a prince of
the dead. He's a badass but can be scared off with garlic or killed
with a wooden stake. In Vampyr the horror is really the fascinating
but dreaded border between life and death, even between waking life
and sleep. This horror is both elusive and omnipresent(therefore more
unsettling) because it shows how imperceptively we slip from life into
death, from wakened state to helpless slumber. Vampyr charts out that
vast but intangible territory between being alive and dead, being
alert and dreaming. It's cinema as hypnosis, even beyond cinema as

meditation of, say, Tarkovsky. (Though I didn't much care for Dead Man
by Jarmusch, I thought, at its best, there were Dreyerian touches;
namely that white man can only think of life and death in violently
dialectical terms whereas for the Indian there is no clear boundary
between the two; thus, white man Depp's slip into death as guided by
the Indian becomes truly epic)

I think among the great filmmakers, only a handful had talent
comparable to Dreyer's. Mizoguchi was one. Ugetsu, like Vampyr, puts
us in a trance and til it's over we're transfixed. The effect on the
audience is total, musical. Kurosawa was one of the greatest but his
images never accumulated this kind of power. Kurosawa's films were
houses constructed of wood whereas Mizoguchi's films are trees
themselves. Organic and alive. Bresson was perhaps another one yet
his ascetic aesthetic sometimes went for threadbare expression that
remained too stark and cerebral to attain the kind of power in films

such as Passion of Joan of Arc and Vampyr.

Haunting Tale of Life and Death & Incredible Early Animation
In a small French town, a man named Allen Gray (Julian West) takes a room at an inn. His sleep is interrupted when a strange man (Maurice Shutz) comes into his room speaking incoherently about death. The man leaves a small package with instructions that it should be opened upon his death and departs. Allen gets out of bed and prowls around the inn in search of an explanation, eventually wandering onto a nearby estate where he finds the mysterious man who was in his room living with his two daughters. One of his daughters has been bitten by a vampire, and the house is shrouded in death.

"Vampyr" was written by director Carl Theodor Dreyer, who was inspired by the Victorian supernatural tales "In a Glass Darkly" by Seridan Le Fanu. The film has a semi-coherent narrative, but it is primarily an abstract meditation on Death. Dialogue is sparse, in German, sometimes muffled, and not consistently subtitled. The story is also told with text that is displayed between scenes. But it is the film's cinematography and score that do the most to communicate "Vampyr"'s sense of mystery, foreboding, and helplessness. Rudolph Maté's cinematography is truly astounding. I was most struck by the way that the camera just kind of lurks, mimicking Allen's activity as he explores the inn. And Maté created some truly effective visual effects in spite of 1932's primitive technology. Wolfgang Zeller's score provides most of the film's audio track and reveals more about the characters' feelings than the spare dialogue does. "Vampyr" won't appeal to those who prefer a strong narrative. It is often abstract. "Vampyr" concerns what goes on in the hearts and minds of characters facing circumstances beyond their control and understanding -facing death itself, and these things are not explicitly communicated. Carl Dreyer's direction and Rudolph Maté's cinematography are terrifically creative. Recommended if you like abstract tales of death or admire extraordinary early cinematography.

Also included on this DVD is an animated short film from 1934 entitled "The Mascot". This is a fantastic example of early stop-motion animation by director Wladyslaw Starewicz. "The Mascot" was created using puppets or dolls that were photographed one frame at a time in order to animate them. It was certainly the inspiration for Pixar's "Toy Story" and Tim Burton's "The Nightmare Before Christmas", and a considerable influence on many other modern animated films. "The Mascot" is about a toy dog who is trying to bring an orange back to the little girl who loves him. And you wouldn't believe the obstacles that he encounters. The animation is extraordinary; the dog is adorable beyond words; the story is sweet and sinister all at once. I have never seen such facial expressions in an animated film before. I have rarely seen such creativity. "The Mascot" is, in fact, the best animated film I've ever seen. It is absolutely enchanting! Fans of animation will want this DVD just for "The Mascot". The film is French, and the few lines of dialogue are dubbed in English. "The Mascot" gets five stars. I can't recommend it highly enough.

The DVD (Image Entertainment): "Vampyr" starts playing as soon as you insert the disc. And there is no Menu, only Scene Selections. The disc does not pause between "Vampyr" and "The Mascot"; it just keeps going. If you want to see "The Mascot" without watching "Vampyr", go to the last scene selection. The print of "Vampyr " isn't very good, especially in the first act. But it's not so bad that it detracts from enjoyment of the film. The print for "The Mascot" is fine. "Vampyr" is subtitled in English only. And, if ever a film would benefit from an audio commentary, "Vampyr" would. But it doesn't have one. So this DVD isn't very well constructed. But it contains two important and fascinating examples of 1930s European cinema, both of which are very much worth owning.

Carl Dreyer's creepy vampire mystery
Carl Dreyer, one of Scandinavia's finest directors, brought this film to the screen in 1932. It is image driven, with not a lot of dialog. Dreyer creates a number of scenes, with the atmosphere raised to the peak, with scary music playing throughout the film. We see Allan, an occult researcher staying at a house. He sees some very scary, werid things there. It seems vampires are controlling the people there, and it is up to him to save them, destroy the vampire, and escape. We follow him investigating the gothic home, with images of death in every room. In one scene he dreams of his own burial! We don't see much of the vampire though, mostly the haunting effects it has on the residents. This film is really creepy, and atmospheric. I'd recommend it highly to those who enjoy the old style, slow, spooky, gothic horror films. 4 stars. ... Read more

Reviews (5)

Day of Wrath
I thought this film displayed an intriguing picture of the age of fear, when people were hunted and killed on suspicion. The pre-enlightenment pathos highlighted in Day of Wrath, a philosophy that controlled people and their emotions, was shown as a dangerous ethic in this film. The film did not rely on technology (for obvious reasons), but painted a bleak picture using early cinematographic techniques that worked. Watching the film, I was convinced that the events could have actually occurred.
The film has a startling (for 1943) scene of partial nudity, though really...nothing can be seen. Still, it was surprising.
The characters are deep. Deepest of course, are the two leads in their antithetical relationship. Absolon, a religious figure whose absolute influence over the community fundamentally defies his wife's need for love and compassion. His wife becomes a victim of society, virtually because of the premise of guilt-by-association. Their strained relationship (which Absolon's mother thinks is "scandalous") becomes unravelled when Absolon's son, Martin, returns home (Martin is older than his step mother). Social hatred and fear prevail at the end of the movie when the wife must confess to witchcraft, thus falling prey to the very fears society seeks to cover up.
This was a very good movie, and a study in structuing the mood of storytelling through film, without the use of $Billion dollar computers.

It's Dreyer's worst, but still a masterpiece.
Day of Wrath is probably the simplest of Dreyer's films, but it is still a great work. Ironically, of all his films, it's the film with the most outward action in it, and it has the most outwardly accessible subject matter, so I'm surprised it appealed to me the least. Nonetheless, it's gorgeous, impeccably acted, and has plenty of dramatic heft.

The cinematography is gorgeous, and evokes the characters inner states of mind better than just about any other director's film. The plot is rather talky, but the themes of persecution and repression are deep enough to justify the chatter. During the film, we watch with horror as suspicion of guilt becomes self-fulfilling prophecy. The ego of the main character warps under the influence of the feelings of guilt that are caused by being suspected of being a witch. It's a fascinating character development, and Dreyer is able to convey it without explicit dialog telling us what's happening though mastery of mise en scene, lighting, and acting.

Diversity under Seige
At first glance, Dreyer's "Day of Wrath" may seem like a retread of the same themes found in his "Passion of Joan of Arc": both are austere meditations on the nature of faith, devotion and hipocrisy; both dwell on the horrifying results of the mob mentality with respect to religion, where the majority thinks it has the one, true answer and takes it upon itself to rid the world of evil and transgression. But "Day of Wrath" is even more layered than "Passion"; where the latter is a silent scream, the former is a much more subtle exploration of both love and faith. The horror for the young wife in "Day of Wrath" who falls in love with her older husband's son is in silence itself. She feels one way--about love and about faith--but must remain mute, hidden behind a mask if she wishes to survive. The result is harrowing, though, for she lives in a society that imposes neat and cruel constraints for what they feel is transgressive. Dreyer's message was prescient, for we still live in a world where one's diversity makes one a pariah. Perhaps we always will.

Get the (5 Star) Criterion disc of this remarkable film!
An unqualified masterpiece that really deserves a full-scale restoration.

I don't know if the tape currently available is a complete version. (The original American release was heavily edited.) The print is of mediocre quality, and the subtitles leave a great deal to be desired - in terms of both translation and readability. The opening text of the "Dies Irae" is a translation of the original Latin - not a translation of the version actually used in the film. This inaccuracy is apparently common to all English subtitled prints - and, given the importance of the piece to the development of the film's themes, it is not nit-picking to point this out.

That said - if this is the only way to see "Day of Wrath," then, by all means, see it. Did Arthur Miller model his vastly inferior work "The Crucible" on this great film? Dreyer's luminous skill in portraiture, landscape, and still life are amply present here. Thorkild Roose is stunning, and Dreyer uses her face to beautiful, devestating effect - much as he used Falconetti's in "La Passion de Jeanne d' Arc." (Another film without parallel.) The use of music (by Poul Schierbeck) is unusually powerful - particurlarly the hymn from which the film takes it's title. Each time this grim leitmotif recurs on the soundtrack it gathers meaning.

A film of exquisite craftsmanship and soul-rending emotional power, with images and performances that haunt the mind for a long time afterward. Unforgettable.

P.S. The DVD fairy granted my wish recently - so there is no longer any reason for this tape to even exist.

This movie could be a Rembrandt.
If Rembrandt were a movie maker this movie would be it! I waited 25yrs to see this movie and now that I've finally seen it, I am overwhelmed! It is both very beautiful very mystical and very spooky. Any serious collector must have this movie in his collection and the DVD is the one to own! ... Read more

Description

Stylistically, Carl Dreyer (The Passion of Joan of Arc) changed course in the early forties amidst a Nazi occupied Denmark.Having discovered the virtues of deep-focus photography (exemplified by Renoir's The Rules of the Game 1937 and epit ... Read more

Reviews (5)

Day of Wrath
I thought this film displayed an intriguing picture of the age of fear, when people were hunted and killed on suspicion. The pre-enlightenment pathos highlighted in Day of Wrath, a philosophy that controlled people and their emotions, was shown as a dangerous ethic in this film. The film did not rely on technology (for obvious reasons), but painted a bleak picture using early cinematographic techniques that worked. Watching the film, I was convinced that the events could have actually occurred.
The film has a startling (for 1943) scene of partial nudity, though really...nothing can be seen. Still, it was surprising.
The characters are deep. Deepest of course, are the two leads in their antithetical relationship. Absolon, a religious figure whose absolute influence over the community fundamentally defies his wife's need for love and compassion. His wife becomes a victim of society, virtually because of the premise of guilt-by-association. Their strained relationship (which Absolon's mother thinks is "scandalous") becomes unravelled when Absolon's son, Martin, returns home (Martin is older than his step mother). Social hatred and fear prevail at the end of the movie when the wife must confess to witchcraft, thus falling prey to the very fears society seeks to cover up.
This was a very good movie, and a study in structuing the mood of storytelling through film, without the use of $Billion dollar computers.

It's Dreyer's worst, but still a masterpiece.
Day of Wrath is probably the simplest of Dreyer's films, but it is still a great work. Ironically, of all his films, it's the film with the most outward action in it, and it has the most outwardly accessible subject matter, so I'm surprised it appealed to me the least. Nonetheless, it's gorgeous, impeccably acted, and has plenty of dramatic heft.

The cinematography is gorgeous, and evokes the characters inner states of mind better than just about any other director's film. The plot is rather talky, but the themes of persecution and repression are deep enough to justify the chatter. During the film, we watch with horror as suspicion of guilt becomes self-fulfilling prophecy. The ego of the main character warps under the influence of the feelings of guilt that are caused by being suspected of being a witch. It's a fascinating character development, and Dreyer is able to convey it without explicit dialog telling us what's happening though mastery of mise en scene, lighting, and acting.

Diversity under Seige
At first glance, Dreyer's "Day of Wrath" may seem like a retread of the same themes found in his "Passion of Joan of Arc": both are austere meditations on the nature of faith, devotion and hipocrisy; both dwell on the horrifying results of the mob mentality with respect to religion, where the majority thinks it has the one, true answer and takes it upon itself to rid the world of evil and transgression. But "Day of Wrath" is even more layered than "Passion"; where the latter is a silent scream, the former is a much more subtle exploration of both love and faith. The horror for the young wife in "Day of Wrath" who falls in love with her older husband's son is in silence itself. She feels one way--about love and about faith--but must remain mute, hidden behind a mask if she wishes to survive. The result is harrowing, though, for she lives in a society that imposes neat and cruel constraints for what they feel is transgressive. Dreyer's message was prescient, for we still live in a world where one's diversity makes one a pariah. Perhaps we always will.

Get the (5 Star) Criterion disc of this remarkable film!
An unqualified masterpiece that really deserves a full-scale restoration.

I don't know if the tape currently available is a complete version. (The original American release was heavily edited.) The print is of mediocre quality, and the subtitles leave a great deal to be desired - in terms of both translation and readability. The opening text of the "Dies Irae" is a translation of the original Latin - not a translation of the version actually used in the film. This inaccuracy is apparently common to all English subtitled prints - and, given the importance of the piece to the development of the film's themes, it is not nit-picking to point this out.

That said - if this is the only way to see "Day of Wrath," then, by all means, see it. Did Arthur Miller model his vastly inferior work "The Crucible" on this great film? Dreyer's luminous skill in portraiture, landscape, and still life are amply present here. Thorkild Roose is stunning, and Dreyer uses her face to beautiful, devestating effect - much as he used Falconetti's in "La Passion de Jeanne d' Arc." (Another film without parallel.) The use of music (by Poul Schierbeck) is unusually powerful - particurlarly the hymn from which the film takes it's title. Each time this grim leitmotif recurs on the soundtrack it gathers meaning.

A film of exquisite craftsmanship and soul-rending emotional power, with images and performances that haunt the mind for a long time afterward. Unforgettable.

P.S. The DVD fairy granted my wish recently - so there is no longer any reason for this tape to even exist.

This movie could be a Rembrandt.
If Rembrandt were a movie maker this movie would be it! I waited 25yrs to see this movie and now that I've finally seen it, I am overwhelmed! It is both very beautiful very mystical and very spooky. Any serious collector must have this movie in his collection and the DVD is the one to own! ... Read more

Reviews (30)

One of the great horror films
Directed in France by the legendary Danish director Carl Dreyer,Vampyr is not only one of the best horror films but also probably one of the greatest films ever made. Unlike the American horror pictures like Frankenstein that were being made at the same time, Vampyr has relatively little action but a sustained atmosphere of strangeness like that of few other movies. The action takes place during one night and the entire film has a slow, trance-like quality. The picture quality of the DVD is vastly superior to that of the older videotapes--the film was photographed by the great Rudolph Mate--but the sound recording is shaky at the best, and the dialogue is hard to follow even for someone who understands German. The music comes across more effectively but is boomy in some passages--it's a good idea to reduce the bass before viewing. The DVD like an earlier video has quite large subtitles in Gothic type--designed I think to eliminate Danish subtitles--which unfortunately mask a third or so of the picture in some shots.

Poor transfer to DVD
This is a great film, one of the most spectral and haunting of all vampire movies. Admittedly, the available prints have been spotty at best. There was a restoration back in the late '60 that took the best footage from a German print and an English language dub print. Truly that effort did justice to Rudolph Matte's imaginative photography. Sadly, this is not that print. By far it's the worst transfer to DVD I've seen yet. The subtitles take up the lower half of the image, and they are gothic German letters on a black masked background! Who's guilty for that? It's become clear that old classics like this are getting rushed into release with little regard for quality, so buyer beware. With a hack job like this out in the market it'll be a long time (if ever) till we see a beautifully restored version of Carl Dreyer's masterpiece on DVD. If you're looking for quality check out Criterion's release of Dreyer's "Passion of Joan of Arc". It's a model of what can be accomplished on the restoration of an old film. With Richard Einhorn's score "The Passion of Joan of Arc" is as fresh and alive as any movie currently in theaters.

dreampyr
What's truly unnerving about Vampyr is it's not so much about monsters
as psychic monstrosity. Most movies objectify our fears and horrors,
materializing them into goblins, slashers, vampires, and whatnot. In
Vampyr, we are to forced to confront our state of mind, our fears as
they surface and take shape, then dissolve, then return to haunt us
yet again.

In most vampire movies, dracula is a frightening creature, a prince of
the dead. He's a badass but can be scared off with garlic or killed
with a wooden stake. In Vampyr the horror is really the fascinating
but dreaded border between life and death, even between waking life
and sleep. This horror is both elusive and omnipresent(therefore more
unsettling) because it shows how imperceptively we slip from life into
death, from wakened state to helpless slumber. Vampyr charts out that
vast but intangible territory between being alive and dead, being
alert and dreaming. It's cinema as hypnosis, even beyond cinema as

meditation of, say, Tarkovsky. (Though I didn't much care for Dead Man
by Jarmusch, I thought, at its best, there were Dreyerian touches;
namely that white man can only think of life and death in violently
dialectical terms whereas for the Indian there is no clear boundary
between the two; thus, white man Depp's slip into death as guided by
the Indian becomes truly epic)

I think among the great filmmakers, only a handful had talent
comparable to Dreyer's. Mizoguchi was one. Ugetsu, like Vampyr, puts
us in a trance and til it's over we're transfixed. The effect on the
audience is total, musical. Kurosawa was one of the greatest but his
images never accumulated this kind of power. Kurosawa's films were
houses constructed of wood whereas Mizoguchi's films are trees
themselves. Organic and alive. Bresson was perhaps another one yet
his ascetic aesthetic sometimes went for threadbare expression that
remained too stark and cerebral to attain the kind of power in films

such as Passion of Joan of Arc and Vampyr.

Haunting Tale of Life and Death & Incredible Early Animation
In a small French town, a man named Allen Gray (Julian West) takes a room at an inn. His sleep is interrupted when a strange man (Maurice Shutz) comes into his room speaking incoherently about death. The man leaves a small package with instructions that it should be opened upon his death and departs. Allen gets out of bed and prowls around the inn in search of an explanation, eventually wandering onto a nearby estate where he finds the mysterious man who was in his room living with his two daughters. One of his daughters has been bitten by a vampire, and the house is shrouded in death.

"Vampyr" was written by director Carl Theodor Dreyer, who was inspired by the Victorian supernatural tales "In a Glass Darkly" by Seridan Le Fanu. The film has a semi-coherent narrative, but it is primarily an abstract meditation on Death. Dialogue is sparse, in German, sometimes muffled, and not consistently subtitled. The story is also told with text that is displayed between scenes. But it is the film's cinematography and score that do the most to communicate "Vampyr"'s sense of mystery, foreboding, and helplessness. Rudolph Maté's cinematography is truly astounding. I was most struck by the way that the camera just kind of lurks, mimicking Allen's activity as he explores the inn. And Maté created some truly effective visual effects in spite of 1932's primitive technology. Wolfgang Zeller's score provides most of the film's audio track and reveals more about the characters' feelings than the spare dialogue does. "Vampyr" won't appeal to those who prefer a strong narrative. It is often abstract. "Vampyr" concerns what goes on in the hearts and minds of characters facing circumstances beyond their control and understanding -facing death itself, and these things are not explicitly communicated. Carl Dreyer's direction and Rudolph Maté's cinematography are terrifically creative. Recommended if you like abstract tales of death or admire extraordinary early cinematography.

Also included on this DVD is an animated short film from 1934 entitled "The Mascot". This is a fantastic example of early stop-motion animation by director Wladyslaw Starewicz. "The Mascot" was created using puppets or dolls that were photographed one frame at a time in order to animate them. It was certainly the inspiration for Pixar's "Toy Story" and Tim Burton's "The Nightmare Before Christmas", and a considerable influence on many other modern animated films. "The Mascot" is about a toy dog who is trying to bring an orange back to the little girl who loves him. And you wouldn't believe the obstacles that he encounters. The animation is extraordinary; the dog is adorable beyond words; the story is sweet and sinister all at once. I have never seen such facial expressions in an animated film before. I have rarely seen such creativity. "The Mascot" is, in fact, the best animated film I've ever seen. It is absolutely enchanting! Fans of animation will want this DVD just for "The Mascot". The film is French, and the few lines of dialogue are dubbed in English. "The Mascot" gets five stars. I can't recommend it highly enough.

The DVD (Image Entertainment): "Vampyr" starts playing as soon as you insert the disc. And there is no Menu, only Scene Selections. The disc does not pause between "Vampyr" and "The Mascot"; it just keeps going. If you want to see "The Mascot" without watching "Vampyr", go to the last scene selection. The print of "Vampyr " isn't very good, especially in the first act. But it's not so bad that it detracts from enjoyment of the film. The print for "The Mascot" is fine. "Vampyr" is subtitled in English only. And, if ever a film would benefit from an audio commentary, "Vampyr" would. But it doesn't have one. So this DVD isn't very well constructed. But it contains two important and fascinating examples of 1930s European cinema, both of which are very much worth owning.

Carl Dreyer's creepy vampire mystery
Carl Dreyer, one of Scandinavia's finest directors, brought this film to the screen in 1932. It is image driven, with not a lot of dialog. Dreyer creates a number of scenes, with the atmosphere raised to the peak, with scary music playing throughout the film. We see Allan, an occult researcher staying at a house. He sees some very scary, werid things there. It seems vampires are controlling the people there, and it is up to him to save them, destroy the vampire, and escape. We follow him investigating the gothic home, with images of death in every room. In one scene he dreams of his own burial! We don't see much of the vampire though, mostly the haunting effects it has on the residents. This film is really creepy, and atmospheric. I'd recommend it highly to those who enjoy the old style, slow, spooky, gothic horror films. 4 stars. ... Read more

Amazon.com

Carl Dreyer's final film is now considered the culmination of his careerof serene, introspective masterpieces, but it was greeted with derision on its initial release in 1965. It's not hard to see why, for Gertrud is an exactingly still and austere film, pared of extraneous decor and camera movement and performed with a masklike restraint that makes Bresson look florid by comparison. Based on a 1919 play by Hjalmar Söderberg, it's the story of a woman married to a staid, passionless lawyer who decides to leave a life of loneliness and emotional compromise for the love of a young musician. Over the next two days, Gertrud examines her life and her needs while a former lover, an acclaimed poet, returns to his hometown for a tribute and proclaims his love. Gertrud is a portrait in emotional resolution that Dreyer directs with an uncompromising style of long, static scenes that abruptly leap forward in time or into flashback with sudden dissolves. Many find the film dull because of its measured pacing and bottled-up performances, but there's a grace and a power in his understatement, and perfection in his control. Nina Pens Rode's Gertud is indeed a passionate woman, but it's a passion seen only in the intensity of her ennui or the glow of her smile as she quietly settles into contemplative stillness. --Sean Axmaker ... Read more

Reviews (4)

All or Nothing -- Uncompromising Bliss or Doom
Cinema Great Carl Dreyer's final film is said to be his masterpiece as well. The innovative b&w cinematography, featuring only a handful, drawn out scenes in confined spaces, makes use of mirrors, shadows and suggested action.

The story begins ca. 1900, studying several characters in depth. Gertrud, the wife of a wealthy lawyer with political aspirations, feels unapreciated by her work-consumed husband. The viewer quickly learns that Gertrud is about to end what appeared to be years of boredom as the "attache" of a man who lives mainly for his secular accomplishments. Despite his protests and assurances that he couldn't live without her, she leaves to see a lover.

Drawn to men of the arts, Gertrud herself was once a celebrated opera singer. A lengthy love affair with a man who later becomes a natioanlly honored poet, left the jilted author heart broken. Another man, a pioneer in the field of psychiatry, becomes Gertrud's friend and confidante, but never a lover.

The story, via flashbacks, present action and time scan foreward shows Gertrud's entire adult life. The final scene offers somewhat of an explanation for why this woman has seemingly denied herself any true happiness. The men who offered her everything, even with the greatest possible concessions on their part, were told not to bother. Gertrud's extreme sense of pride, as noticed by a young musical genius who sees her as a convenient fling, leaves no waivering of the determined mind.

If this film appeared to be scandalous in 1964, how would society view this kind of real activity in the early 1900s? A strong sense of "truth", as a philosopher may call it, will always override any kind of compromise. "Love is all", the only words on Gertrud's head stone. There must be more to life than strict adhearance to an ideology, especially at the high cost. A critically acclaimed film, "Gertrud" nonetheless lacks entertainment value due to its fatalistic story telling.****

Not exactly entertaining, but compelling and incisive.
Gertrud is a lesser film than Dreyer's Ordet, though not by much. Like Ordet, the films characters are archetypes, but somehow transcend them. I think Dreyer's sound films are amazingly adept at establishing an "at the speed of life" pacing that lulls us into thinking we're watching real people with real concerns as the themes leap into universal territory. Gertrud's character is one of the most interesting pre-feminist women I've seen in cinema and I think Dreyer's refusal to judge her in any way saves the film from being the bore that many find it.

The film's stylistically bold, though it's not in any way garish. Rather than use close-ups, cuts, and an overabundance of score, Dreyer lets light and methodical camera movements make his world come alive. I would imagine that many would find it unwatchable, or would incorrectly deem it uncinematic, but it's exceptionally cinematic. Every cut, every pan, every zoom matters.

Underappreciated
This was Dreyer's last film - and it was, legend has it, practically booed off the screen at Cannes. (The reviews were roundly hostile.) It's not Dreyer's greatest, but it's a blessedly intelligent and thoughtful piece of work.

The main character's notions of ideal love are taken to a most unromantic extreme - but the ultimate result of her uncompromising nature is in no way tragic. Her acceptance of the fact that no one will be able to meet her standards becomes extraordinary. Rather than seeming unfulfilled, Gertrud gives the opposite air entirely.

I'm loath call a movie "inspirational," but I'd make a rare exception here. It's an affirmative (another word I hate) experience for incurably stubborn people everywhere, for people who aren't afraid of being alone, for anyone who is ready to move beyond the need to explain themselves to anyone . . . Granted, this is a very personal reading. But Dreyer's work is nothing if not personal. It is naturally intended to be experienced and interpreted on a personal level.

Gertrud is a character we hardly ever see in movies. What wouldn't I give to see more in her class?

It's art, though - and it's slow. This makes for mesmerizing passages that aren't possible in films that have more traditional ideas about pacing. But if you aren't mesmerized you will most definitely be bored silly.

And one really does have to surrender something to it. It would be easy to laugh at "Gertrud" or to dismiss it. To accept the line delivery alone demands a great deal of patience - one is expected to listen carefully. And a lot of people won't care what is being said, or will find the tone ludicrously ponderous. Certainly, if Gertrud's greatest worry is that the men in her life don't love her enough (an oversimplification, I know) she must not have many of what most of us would consider "REAL" problems. This is a valid point - but it also misses the point.

"Gertrud" is also; by the way, far superior to the unfortunate and over praised "Ordet" (which is inexplicably considered Dreyer's greatest film by some people).

Visually there is a bit of the stink of the sixties on this one in the too clean lines, but this is as easy to overlook as anything else. Its like complaining about Nina Pens Rode's not very convincing makeup at the end. If you are really paying attention, you don't notice it for long.

Criterion's DVD version is, of course, outstanding.

Unsettling Masterwork
This is a film that's probably provoked alot of eye rolls since its release, so be prepared. Devoid of any extravagance (the film is almost entirely filmed in living rooms under fill lights that never seem to change), this movie has the ability to penetrate its audience like a predator waiting in the dark--slow, subtle, almost undetectable.

The film is less interesting as a piece of feminism as it is an almost meditative statement about humanity. By consistently refusing the audience anything pornographic (as most films tend to do), Dreyer manages to reveal the layers of pain that lie deep within us. ... Read more