Day Of Wrath (1943)
November 6th 2008 06:53
“I killed you with the evil one’s help and with the evil one’s help I have lured your son into my power. Now you know, now you know. I see through my tears but no one comes to wipe them away.” – Carl Dreyer’s Day Of Wrath
Shot in 1943 during Nazi occupied Denmark, Day Of Wrath is a film of terrifying intensity. Day Of Wrath has been cited as a large influence on Arthur Miller’s The Crucible and from where I stand, it is for me, a strong contender for what I consider to be the greatest film ever made. Carl Dreyer was a film maker who was born and raised in grim and tragic circumstances, which no doubt have taken it’s toll on his work as an artist.. He didn’t make a lot of films but his work shared the same stateliness as Andrei Tarkovsky or Robert Bresson’s, every film setting it’s own rhythm for the world it portrays with a Rembrandt like presence to every shot and movement. Some of Dreyer’s other films include Ordet, Gertrud and the most accomplished film version of Joan Of Arc.
Day Of Wrath seems as technically impressive now as Citizen Kane or The Red Shoes. Set in Norway in 1623 at a time where witch hunts where a very real and serious part of society. The film begins with a very old woman named Herlofs Marte being hunted, this terrified woman seeks help from a young woman, Herlofs Marte is found, tortured and burned alive. The same Pastor who interrogated Herlofs is also the same man marrying the woman she came to for help, a woman young enough to be his daughter, who goes on to begin an affair with her new stepson. Much of the film revolves around the themes of living in a totalitarian society, with the witch hunts to be perhaps allegories for different types of interpretation, one among them would certainly be a literal result of the strictly religious and sexually repressed society of the 16th century. Even though the films uses these witch hunts for narrative purposes and allegedly allegorical ones Dreyer always denied any connections the story had in metaphor to the Nazi occupation at the time in Denmark, although that is one way the story has been read.
What is so striking about Day Of Wrath, like it’s name, is the sheer intensity it has. I have seen Day of Wrath numerous times and the effect of this intensity has never weakened for me over the years. The impact of it can be down right unbearable at times. It gives such a formal view of the world where everything is repressed and any form of expression is a potential sin that when we do feel something - it comes through unbelievably clear. Dreyer uses the his slow pacing, painfully precise camera work and restrained actors that when we experience the wallop that the films revelations reveal, it’s like our nervous system is being retuned and we are experiencing these emotions for the first time.
Danish cinema has always, to me, been unusually intense and realistic, that seems to be what has defined it, particularly with Lars Von Trier and his Dogme Manifesto. I can only recommend this film to seriously appreciative viewers, to some the bottled up pacing would be maddening and the extreme raw nerves that the film exposes for its audience, particularly while Herlofs Marte is being tortured, with her sheer vulnerability is terrifying to watch within the films strictly formal context. For the serious, adventurous film goer Day Of Wrath should be considered holy ground for cinema. It certainly is for me
Day Of Wrath
A very intense masterpiece from Denmark
Shot in 1943 during Nazi occupied Denmark, Day Of Wrath is a film of terrifying intensity. Day Of Wrath has been cited as a large influence on Arthur Miller’s The Crucible and from where I stand, it is for me, a strong contender for what I consider to be the greatest film ever made. Carl Dreyer was a film maker who was born and raised in grim and tragic circumstances, which no doubt have taken it’s toll on his work as an artist.. He didn’t make a lot of films but his work shared the same stateliness as Andrei Tarkovsky or Robert Bresson’s, every film setting it’s own rhythm for the world it portrays with a Rembrandt like presence to every shot and movement. Some of Dreyer’s other films include Ordet, Gertrud and the most accomplished film version of Joan Of Arc.
An old woman begs for mercy
Day Of Wrath seems as technically impressive now as Citizen Kane or The Red Shoes. Set in Norway in 1623 at a time where witch hunts where a very real and serious part of society. The film begins with a very old woman named Herlofs Marte being hunted, this terrified woman seeks help from a young woman, Herlofs Marte is found, tortured and burned alive. The same Pastor who interrogated Herlofs is also the same man marrying the woman she came to for help, a woman young enough to be his daughter, who goes on to begin an affair with her new stepson. Much of the film revolves around the themes of living in a totalitarian society, with the witch hunts to be perhaps allegories for different types of interpretation, one among them would certainly be a literal result of the strictly religious and sexually repressed society of the 16th century. Even though the films uses these witch hunts for narrative purposes and allegedly allegorical ones Dreyer always denied any connections the story had in metaphor to the Nazi occupation at the time in Denmark, although that is one way the story has been read.
The restraint of this torture scene makes it all the more emotional to watch
What is so striking about Day Of Wrath, like it’s name, is the sheer intensity it has. I have seen Day of Wrath numerous times and the effect of this intensity has never weakened for me over the years. The impact of it can be down right unbearable at times. It gives such a formal view of the world where everything is repressed and any form of expression is a potential sin that when we do feel something - it comes through unbelievably clear. Dreyer uses the his slow pacing, painfully precise camera work and restrained actors that when we experience the wallop that the films revelations reveal, it’s like our nervous system is being retuned and we are experiencing these emotions for the first time.
A repressed view of repression: A young wife and her step son have an affair
Danish cinema has always, to me, been unusually intense and realistic, that seems to be what has defined it, particularly with Lars Von Trier and his Dogme Manifesto. I can only recommend this film to seriously appreciative viewers, to some the bottled up pacing would be maddening and the extreme raw nerves that the film exposes for its audience, particularly while Herlofs Marte is being tortured, with her sheer vulnerability is terrifying to watch within the films strictly formal context. For the serious, adventurous film goer Day Of Wrath should be considered holy ground for cinema. It certainly is for me
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