| Gertrud |
Theatrical release poster |
| Directed by |
Carl Theodor Dreyer |
| Produced by |
Jørgen Nielsen |
| Screenplay by |
Carl Theodor Dreyer
Grethe Risbjerg Thomsen (poems) |
| Based on |
Gertrud by
Hjalmar Söderberg |
| Starring |
Nina Pens Rode
Bendt Rothe
Ebbe Rode
Baard Owe
Axel Strøbye |
| Music by |
Jørgen Jersild |
| Cinematography |
Henning Bendtsen |
| Editing by |
Edith Schlüssel |
| Studio |
Palladium |
| Distributed by |
Film-Centralen-Palladium |
| Release date(s) |
19 December 1964 (1964-12-19) (France)
1 January 1965 (1965-01-01) (Denmark) |
| Running time |
116 minutes |
| Country |
Denmark |
| Language |
Danish |
Gertrud is a 1964 Danish drama film directed by Carl Theodor Dreyer, based on the 1906 play of the same name by Hjalmar Söderberg. The title role of Gertrud Kanning is played by Nina Pens Rode, with Bendt Rothe as her husband, Gustav Kanning, and Baard Owe as her lover, Erland Jansson.
Gertrud was Dreyer's final film. It is notable for its many long takes, which include a 9 minute, 56 second take of Gertrud and her ex-lover, Gabriel, talking about their pasts.
Plot
Gertrud, a former opera singer in Stockholm in the early 20th century, is married to the lawyer and politician Gustav Kanning. Gertrud tells her husband that he has become more in love with his career and status than with her. She also tells him that she has met another man who loves her more than anything else, and that she therefore prefers him to her husband and wants a divorce.
Gertrud meets her lover, the promising young pianist Erland Jansson, in a park. The two go to Jansson's house. Gertrud tells him how devoted she is to him. In the evening Gustav goes to pick Gertrud up at the opera where she had said she would be, but can't find her. The next evening the Kannings attend a dinner party at the house of the poet Gabriel Lidman, with whom Gertrud has had a relationship in the past. Gertrud greets her friend Axel Nyman who attends the same party. Gustav confronts Gertrud about the opera, and demands one last night with her before the separation. Lidman tells Gertrud that he had met Jansson at a party where he had bragged about Gertrud as his latest conquest.
When Gertrud meets with Jansson the next day she tells him that she wants to go away with him and leave everything else behind. He tells her that he cannot, because he is expecting a child with another woman. Lidman makes an attempt to convince Gertrud to leave with him instead, but without success; when Lidman and Gertrud were a couple, just like Kanning, he had valued his career above her. Kanning makes a last attempt to convince Gertrud to stay with him, even allowing her to keep her lover at the same time. Impossible to convince, Gertrud moves alone to Paris to study psychology.
Thirty years later, Gertrud, together with Nygren, looks back at her life. She says that love is the only thing that means anything in life. She is now alone because of her refusal to compromise on that position, but does not regret anything.
Cast
Production
According to Carl Theodor Dreyer, he had considered adapting two Hjalmar Söderberg works in the 1940s, the 1905 novel Doctor Glas and the 1906 play Gertrud. None of the projects were realised at the time. The Gertrud project was revived when Dreyer read a 1962 monograph by Sten Rein called Hjalmar Söderbergs Gertrud, which pointed out the original play's use of dialogue: how the story often is driven by trivial conversations and failures to communicate. This inspired Dreyer to make a film where speech is more important than images. Adapting the play into a screenplay, Dreyer chose to abridge the third act and added an epilogue. The epilogue was inspired by the life of Maria von Platen, Söderberg's original inspiration for the Gertrud character.[1]
The film was produced by Palladium, and filmed at Nordisk Film's studios in Valby, since Palladium's own studios were used by Danmarks Radio for a television production. Exterior scenes were filmed in the Vallø Castle park.[2] Filming took three months, and editing three days.[1]
Reception
The film premiered at Le Studio Médicis in Paris on 18 December 1964. The cinema equipment failed several times during the screening, the subtitles were of low quality and the reels were shown in the wrong order, prompting extremely negative reactions from the audience.[3] It was released in Denmark on 1 January 1965 through Film-Centralen-Palladium.[2]
Critical response
From the outset the film divided both critics and audiences. Immediately following the Paris premiere the film was frequently referred to as a "disaster" in the press; after the Danish premiere the reception became more nuanced but still divided, and the film caused a big debate in Danish media.[3]
A critic wrote in Variety in 1965: "Theme, with echos of Ibsen, in its social haranguing for female independence, and Strindberg, in its difficulty in male and female understanding, lends itself admirably to Dreyer's dry but penetrating style. Nina Pens Rode has the right luminous quality for the romantic, uncompromising Gertrud, while the men are acceptable if sometimes overindulgent in their roles."[4]
Jean-Luc Godard rated the film number one in his list of the best films of 1964. As well, Cahiers du cinéma voted it the second-best of 1964, beaten only by Band of Outsiders.[5] Andrew Sarris rated it the second-best of 1966, only beaten by Blowup.[6].
Accolades
The film won the FIPRESCI prize at the 1965 Venice Film Festival and the Prix du comité directeur at the 7th Festival des Ciné-Rencontres in Prades.[7] It received the 1965 Bodil Award for Best Danish Film.[8] The film was selected as the Danish entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 38th Academy Awards, but was not accepted as a nominee.[9]
See also
References
- Notes
- Bibliography
External links
