Films/DVD Asylum

Posted by tinear (A) on January 26, 2007 at 04:41:12

most powerful films, and one of only four he made.
Dreyer should be considered as great a filmmaker as Bergmann (I'd say greater, much) but, for some reason I can't imagine, he is not.
He is a genius of lighting, pacing, dialogue--- all the essential skills of a great artist.
On a farm, an aging patriarch has passed the operation to his two sons, his third being of weak mind, believing himself to be the Second Coming of Christ.
The eldest son's wife is pregnant and the would-be Christ predicts her death because of the lack of religious faith within the home.
A sub-plot involves the failure of the youngest son to secure the hand of the town tailor's daughter precisely because of a strong religious disagreement between the two fathers over the legitimacy of each others beliefs.
Few films approach the subject of faith--- or its lack--- and fewer still with wisdom, originality, and power.
To see "Ordet" is to see a work of art which very well may be a visual equivalent of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony.