Carl Theodor Dreyer - Vredens Dag aka Day of Wrath (1943)

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 seventeenth-century village. Stepping outside the bounds of the village’s harsh moral code has disastrous results. Exquisitely photographed and passionately acted, Day of Wrath remains an intense, unforgettable experience.





This is a movie that tackles so many issues I can hardly find the words to comment on it in a limited amount of space. Dreyer has got to be one of the greatest directors ever. Regardless of the story and the "philosphy" behind his movies his style of composition is amazing. Just as Picasso was able to create a masterpiece with one strike of the brush, Dreyer makes a perfect shot with only minimal but perfect directing. Nothing is ever misplaced, the camera cuts only when it is strictly necessary, the actors seem to be pulled by strings to achieve a perfect feeling of position within the frame, the general environment, even if simple is there for a purpose.

The story, placed in 17th century Denmark is not only revealing for that period and for 1943 (when Denmark was occupied by the Nazis)but for any age, just like Seventh Seal or Winter Light. Bergman definitely comes to mind when watching this. But unlike the Sweedish director whose arguments against the Church and his feeling of despair caused by the death of God are pervasive, Dreyer is more ambiguous. In the first part of the film you could say that he makes everything possible to show us religious bigotry and its devastating consequences. But from this he does not make a case, such as Bunuel for instance, against the Church itself. And by the end of the movie you are aware that the problems are so intertwined that no one, not even a great director or novelist or whatever can make a case either for one side or the other, that is either for God or against him. With his attitude Dreyer reminded me in a way of Dostoievsky whose characters are also ambiguous and can never quite make up their minds if one is to simply believe without questioning or question without believing. (IMDB comment)







La ira de Dios/Dies Irae
Marta de Herlof es acusada de brujeria y condenada a la hoguera. Acude en busca de ayuda a casa del Pastor de la Iglesia, Absalon, para que la salve de la misma manera que salvó a la madre de su joven y actual esposa Anna. Este se niega y Marta le amenaza con denunciar el hecho pues, según la ley, la hija de una bruja también debe morir en la hoguera.

Dinamarca, 1623. En plena caza de brujas, Absalom, un sacerdote mayor, promete a una mujer condenada a muerte que salvará a su hija Anne de la hoguera a cambio de casarse con ella. Según la ley, las descendientes de las brujas también deben arder en una pira. Meret, la anciana madre de Absalom, desaprueba desde el principio el matrimonio. Cuando Martin, el hijo de Absalom, regresa a casa para conocer a su madrastra, se enamorará de ella y ambos compartirán una relación prohibida que deparará inesperadas consecuencias.





Jour de colère
En 1623, dans un village du Danemark, le vieux pasteur Absalon vit avec sa mère, Merete, et sa seconde épouse, Anne, la fille très jeune d'une présumée sorcière qui grâce à cette union, bénéficie de la clémence du tribunal écclésiastique. Martin, le fils qu'Absalon a eu d'un premier lit et de la vieille Marte Herlofs, est de retour de voyage, et fait la connaissance de sa belle-mère et en tombe éperdument amoureux.





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