Blu-Ray Review – The Carl Theodor Dreyer Collection
Carl Theodor Dreyer is a director noted for his slow mediation style of filmmaking, and Kubrickian and Malick-esque delays in-between films (if you discount some documentary work he did for the money). His films, for the most part, had a divided critical response during his lifetime, but near the end of his life when the French New Wave started up, he was being hailed by many as one of the greats. The only film of his which had initial widespread acclaim in his lifetime was The Passion of Joan of Arc which is considered by many (including me) as one of the greatest films ever made, and possibly the great all-time screen performance by any actor with Renée Jeanne Falconetti as Joan of Arc.
BFI has compiled a new Blu-Ray boxset which consists mainly of his later films post-Joan of Arc such Day of Wrath, Ordet and his final film Gertrude. The first film in the set however is a film that predates The Passion of Joan of Arc called Master of the House and is the only silent in the set. It’s a low-key social satire about a man who is a tyrant to his wife, but due to the maid’s interference learns to appreciate what his wife does for him. It’s a solid film and fascinating in a historical way but the best from Dreyer is yet to come.
Dreyer’s films all have a similar aesthetic and almost all of his films deal in faith in some way or another. The Passion of Joan of Arc and Day of Wrath are closest in style and subject, both films deal with witch trials but centuries apart. Day of Wrath may lack the frenzied energy of Joan of Arc but like that film the event is only a catalyst so Dreyer can focus changes forced on the characters. Despite being a conservative politically, Dreyer was a man who seriously lacked faith and both of these films are scathing attacks on the evils the Catholic church were involved in. It was also made during the Nazi occupation of Denmark and the parallels between the totalitarian rule of the Nazis and 16th Catholics are certainly intended.
Ordet is certainly Dreyer’s slowest and most meditative film and is his longest at slightly over two hours in length. It’s set in the early ’20s in a small Rural Danish town and it’s a family drama about the Borgen family. Morten runs the local parish and has three sons, the advent non-believer Mikkel, Johannes who has gone crazy and believes himself to be Jesus, and finally his other son Anders who is in love with a local girl but her father is a different sect of Christianity and opposes the marriage. Everything takes a turn for the worst and eventually for the fantastic when Mikkel’s pregnant wife goes into labour and it’s not a smooth one.
Dreyer is often compared to the Swedish miserablist maestro Bergman, but Dreyer always takes a complex, more agnostic take on similar subject matters. Despite being a film made by a man with a lack of faith, Dreyer acknowledges the possibility of miracles and is finally strangely life affirming. It’s beautifully shot in black and white like all of Dreyer’s films, and remains a slow build but ultimately an extremely rewarding cinematic experience.
Gertrud was Dreyer’s last film and like many great films was booed at its premiere at the Cannes film festival. It’s his most daring film stylistically since his earlier work such as Vampyr or The Passion of Joan of Arc and is minimalistic to its core and has less than 90 shots over a two-hour running time. Nina Pens Rode plays the title character Gertrud who leaves her unfulfilling marriage and starts an affair with a young composer. Through a series of flashbacks you find out about an earlier affair of Gertrude. It’s a startling achievement with an astonishing performance by Nina Pens Rode which gets you into the mind of a woman who is desperate for an idealised version of love, even though it only leads to disappointment. Like Joan of Arc, it’s a film that is finally about sacrifice but unlike Joan of Arc it’s for love rather than religion.
BFI’s set is packed to the gills with special features including many short documentaries Dreyer made for cash – the best of the bunch is one he did on road safety called They Caught the Ferry. Day of Wrath has a commentary track and visual essay on the film. The meat of the package is the 1995 feature-length documentary Carl Th. Dreyer – My Métier and 80 minutes of outtakes of the documentary. The rest of the features are a wealth of interviews and some archive footage of Dreyer himself including a BBC interview for Gertrud. Insanely impressive package for one of the greatest filmmakers to ever live.
Ian Schultz
Genre: World Cinema | Distributor: BFI |Release Date: 20th April 2015 (UK)|Rating: 12| Buy:Carl Theodor Dreyer Collection (Limited Edition Blu-ray box set)
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