Vredens dag (1943)

User Rating:

7.7/10   

Director:

Carl Theodor Dreyer

Writers:

Release Date:

24 April 1948 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Plot:

In a 17th-century Danish village, an old woman is accused of witchcraft. In the shadow of her flight...

Plot Keywords:

Pastor | Confession | Witch | Love | 17th Century

Cast

Kirsten Andreasen	...	(uncredited)
Sigurd Berg	...	(uncredited)
Albert Høeberg	...	The Bishop (uncredited)
Harald Holst	...	(uncredited)
Emanuel Jørgensen	...	(uncredited)
Sophie Knudsen	...	(uncredited)
Preben Lerdorff Rye	...	Martin (Absalon's son from first marriage) (uncredited)
Lisbeth Movin	...	Anne Pedersdotter (Absalon's second wife) (uncredited)
Preben Neergaard	...	Degn (uncredited)
Sigrid Neiiendam	...	Merete (Absalon's mother) (uncredited)
Emilie Nielsen	...	(uncredited)
Thorkild Roose	...	Rev. Absalon Pederssøn (uncredited)
Hans Christian Sørensen	...	(uncredited)
Anna Svierkier	...	Herlofs Marte (uncredited)
Olaf Ussing	...	Laurentius (uncredited)
Dagmar Wildenbrück	...	(uncredited)

Also Known As:

Day of Anger (USA) (video title)
Day of Wrath (USA)

Runtime:

97 min | USA:110 min | Argentina:94 min

Country:

Denmark

Language:

Danish

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:M | South Korea:15 (2003) | West Germany:16 (w) | Finland:S | Argentina:13

Company:

Palladium Productions

Trivia:

Though the film is outwardly a chronicle of a religious witch-hunt, it contained many subtler comparisons to the behavior of the Nazis (torture and questioning) and Carl Theodor Dreyer fled Denmark for Sweden where he remained until the war was over.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: The film is set in 1623. But at the back of the main room, where much of the action takes place, is a large wooden chest with a Latin inscription, mostly legible: "[Quae?] parum novit nemo docere potest 1639."

Quotes:

Rev. Absalon Pederssøn: There is nothing so quiet as a heart that has ceased to beat.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Carl Th. Dreyer: Min metier (1995)

A Stunning Masterpiece

If you're a fan of powerful acting, detailed direction, flawless pictorial composition, you've got to see this film. Pacing is slow and deliberate, but also terrifying. Sex, religion and witchcraft are common themes in movies, but rarely has that combination been explored to any psychological depth. Like Bergman's "Seventh Seal" and Miller's "Crucible," "Day of Wrath" transports us back a few hundred years -- where the fear of evil, and Satan in particular, is a daily, obsessive concern. Where otherwise good people can point a finger at an acquaintance or a loved one (or at you) and accuse them (or you) of conspiring with the Devil. A very frightening film.