Themes: Miscarriage of Justice, Social Injustice, Witches
Main Cast: Thorkild Roose, Lisbeth Movin, Sigrid Neilendam, Preben Lerdorff-Rye, Albert Hoeberg
Release Year: 1943
Country: DK
Run Time: 97 minutes
Plot
Danish director Carl Theodor Dreyer's Day of Wrath (Vredens Dag) is set in 1623 Denmark, where Anne Pedersdotter (Lisbeth Movin), the second wife of a Danish pastor, grows to loathe her husband for his self-asceticism and instead falls in love with the minister's son - with whom she spends an inordinate amount of time. Locals overhear her wishing aloud for her husband's death; when he dies of a stroke not long after, she is accused of witchcraft, a charge taken seriously enough to be punishable by death. Eventually, the poor woman is tortured and traumatized to such a point that she actually believes she is a witch - and she gives in to being burned at the stake. Yet Dreyer then shifts the perspective from internalized - illustrating the woman's paralyzing fear - to externalized, a point of view that enables the director to depict his subject's spiritual purification. Even allowing for the aura of raw terror, Dreyer never loses sight of the eroticism inherent in the concept of witchcraft. Based on a play by Wiers Jensen, Day of Wrath was filmed during the Nazi occupation of Denmark and not released abroad until after the war, and the director reportedly had to flee his native country when he angered the government with the film's political content. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Review
Carl Theodor Dreyer's second sound film (after 1932's Vampyr) and his first after nearly a decade of inactivity, Vredens Dag was released during the height of the Nazi occupation of Denmark and, due to its strong political content, Dreyer was forced to flee to Sweden immediately after making it. Based on a Norwegian play by Hans Wiers-Jenssen, the film, set in 17th century Denmark, deals with the mysterious transgression of a young woman, the second wife of a self-ascetic pastor who falls in love with the minister's son from his first marriage, wishes aloud for her husband's death, and is accused of witchcraft and killed after he dies of a stroke. Though it's clearly critical of the intolerance it depicts, the movie is not simply a treatise on the hypocrisy of witch hunts. Vredens Dag uses the tantalizing mystery at the center of the story to explore the place where societal and individual responsibilities mix and become inseparable. All of Dreyer's stylistic trademarks are in place: an extreme austerity in the compositions, an emphasis on the contrast between black and white, an abundance of slow tracking shots, and a judicious use of extreme close-ups. The film moves with Dreyer's customary deliberate pace, but nevertheless it's one of his most accessible films. Lead actress Lisbeth Movin's spectacular final moments, as she accepts her fate, bring to mind the legendary Maria Falconetti in Dreyer's early masterpiece, La Passion de Jeanne d'Arc. ~ Mark Pittillo, All Movie Guide
Cast
Thorkild Roose - Absalon Pedersson
Lisbeth Movin - Anne Pedersdotter
Sigrid Neilendam - Merete, Absalon's Mother
Preben Lerdorff-Rye - Martin
Albert Hoeberg - The Bishop
Olaf Ussing - Laurentius; Anna Svierkier - Marte Herlof; Sigurd Berg - Kapellmeister; Harald Holst
Credit
Erik Aaes - Art Director, Carl Theodor Dreyer - Director, Edith Schlüssel - Editor, Anne Marie Petersen - Editor, Poul Schierbeck - Composer (Music Score), Karl Andersson - Cinematographer, Carl Theodor Dreyer - Producer, Carl Theodor Dreyer - Screenwriter, Poul Knudsen - Screenwriter, Mogens Skot-Hansen - Screenwriter, Hans Wiers Jenssen - Book Author
Day of Wrath is set in a Danish village in 1623 where an old woman Herlof's Marte (Anna Svierkier) is accused of witchcraft. Anne (Lisbeth Movin), a young woman, has been married since childhood to the aged local pastor, Absalon Pedersson (Thorkild Roose), who is involved with the trials of witches, and they live in a house shared with his strict domineering mother Meret (Sigrid Neiiendam). Meret does not approve of Anne, much younger than her husband, being about the same age as the son from his first marriage. Anne gives Herlof's Marte refuge, but Marte is soon discovered in the house, though she is presumed to have hidden herself there without assistance. Herlof's Marte knows that Anne's mother, already dead at the time of the events depicted, had been accused of witchcraft as well, and had been spared thanks to Absalon's intervention, who aimed at marrying young Anne. Anne is thus informed by Herlof's Marte of her mother's power over people's life and death, and become intrigued in the matter.
The son, Martin (Preben Lerdorff Rye) returns home from abroad and he and Anne are immediately attracted to one another; she does not love her husband and considers him not to love her. Under heavy torture Herlof's Marte confesses to witchcraft, defined among other evidence as wishing for the death of other people, but threatens to expose Anne if Absalon does not rescue her from a guilty verdict, begging him to save her like he saved Anne's mother. Marte though, after pleading with Absalon a second time, does not betray his secret and is burned at the stake with the villagers looking on. Absalon feels his guilt over having saved Anne's mother, but leaving Marte to burn. Anne and Martin, clandestinely growing closer, are seen as having changed in recent days, fuelling Meret's suspicion of Anne's character. Anne is heard laughing in Martin's company by her husband, something which had not occurred in their time together. Absalon regrets that he took Anne's hand disregarding her feeling and true intentions, and tells her so, apologising for stealing her youth and happiness.
A violent storm erupts while Absalon is away visiting a dying young parishioner Laurentius (Olaf Ussing); he had been cursed by Herlof's Marte during her interrogation and foretold an imminent death. Meanwhile, Anne and Martin are discussing the future, and she is forced to admit wishing her husband dead, but only as an "if" rather than it actually happening. At that moment Absalon, on his way home, feels "like the touching of death itself". On Absalon's return, Anne confesses her love for Martin to her husband and tells him she wishes him dead; he collapses and dies calling Martin's name. Anne screams. The following morning Martin is overcome by his own doubts, despite Anne claiming that she had nothing to do with his father's death which she sees a providential help from above to release her from her present misery and unhappy marriage. At Absalon's funeral, Anne is denounced by Meret, her mother-in-law, as a witch. Anne initially denies the charge, but when Martin sides with his grandmother she is faced with the loss of his love and trust, and confesses on her husband's open coffin (bier) that she murdered him and enchanted his son with the Devil's help. Her fate appears sealed.
Production
Day of Wrath was made during the period of the Nazi occupation of Denmark (1940–1945), thus the film's tale of individuals living in a repressive and paranoid society takes on added gravity.
Vampyr (1932) ·Day of Wrath (1943) ·Two People (1945) ·Ordet (1955) ·Gertrud (1964)
Short films
Good Mothers (1942) ·Water from the Land (1946) ·The Struggle Against Cancer (1947) ·The Danish Village Church (1947) ·They Caught the Ferry (1948) ·Thorvaldsen (1949) ·The Storstrom Bridge (1950) ·The Castle Within the Castle (1955)
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