Plot Summary

Carl Th. Dreyer - My Metier
Torben Skøjdt Jensen, 1995

Torben Skjodt Jensen's elegant documentary is a collage of memories and reflections on one of cinema's greatest directors. Visually rich and densely layered, Carl Th. Dreyer - My Metier illuminates an artist too little understood and too important to overlook. Through interviews, historical writings, and rare archival footage, a portrait of Dreyer emerges: an austere perfectionist, yes, but also a passionate man possessing a genuine sense of humor. The Criterion Collection is proud to present this in-depth study of Dreyer's life and work for the first time on home video.

Day of Wrath
Carl Theodor Dreyer, 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 17th-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.

Gertrud
Carl Theodor Dreyer, 1964

Carl Dreyer’s last film neatly crowns his career: a meditation on tragedy, individual will and the refusal to compromise. A woman leaves her unfulfilling marriage and embarks on a search for ideal love—but neither a passionate affair with a younger man nor the return of an old romance can provide the answer she seeks. Always the stylistic innovator, Dreyer employs long takes and theatrical staging to concentrate on Nina Pens Rode’s sublime portrayal of the proud and courageous Gertrud.

 

Ordet
Carl Theodor Dreyer, 1955

A farmer’s family is torn apart by faith, sanctity, and love—one child believes he’s Jesus Christ, a second proclaims himself agnostic, and the third falls in love with a fundamentalist’s daughter. Putting the lie to the term “organized religion,” Ordet (The Word)is a challenge to simple facts and dogmatic orthodoxy. Layering multiple stories of faith and rebellion, Dreyer’s adaptation of Kaj Munk’s play quietly builds towards a shattering, miraculous climax.

 

Special Features: 

• New digital transfers of all the films, supervised by Gertrud cinematographer Henning Bendtsen
• Interview footage with cast members from Day of Wrath, Ordet, and Gertrud
• Archival footage of Dreyer during the production of Gertrud
• Interviews with Dreyer cinematographers Henning Bendtsen and Jorgen Roos
• A 22 - page booklet, including a reprint of Dreyer's essay "Thoughts on My Metier"
• An extensive essay by Dreyer scholar Edvin Kau
• Stills galleries accompanying each film
• Gertrud enhanced for 16x9 televisions