During this month I have been watching films regarded as classics far and wide, whilst some bumps, I have stumbled upon many fantastic films already. This is no exception despite what I will go on to say. Ordet scatters itself around many of the broader abstract themes of life and death, faith and pride, the selfishness and soullessness in aspects of spirituality, a point not dwelled upon often in film for reasons all too known. The most interesting; tragedy, loss, and the inability of the human mind to comprehend it, the inability to do anything when the stakes are highest. It must be gods will. Why is it gods will. Why. Is it all just meaningless babble? When all else…

Even on a second viewing after over a year of time between seeing Ordet, Dreyer's film still brought me to tears. An unimaginable act considering how religious themed the movie is and my views on religion (or lack there of).

Ordet is based from a play written by Christian Pastor Kaj Munk who was murdered by the Gestapo during WWII and the German occupation of Denmark. Munk's spirituality may linger through the lines and seams of the film but it is Dreyer who pumps life and meaning to its finished form.

It's story delves into discussions on love, neighborliness, family, devotion and above all faith. Morten Borgen struggles as the patriarch of the Borgen Farm to retain faith amongst his…

Ordet uses long lasting shots that constantly breeze left and right to find new areas of focus, fairly static in position but always on the lookout; bareboned at heart but events always unfolding. A 'slow' film in every sense of the word, but the peaceful pace quietly suckered me in and I found it mighty difficult to look away; the 120 minute run time was never a real problem (ending scenes excluded).

The naked locations—primarily ordinary rooms—give heightened focus on the characters, but yet still are given a quiet attention of their own. It is very much like a play. Using what bare background there is, Dreyer clearly attempts to inspire discovery in his viewers through shadows, light and objects…

Danish director Carl Dreyer is one of those filmmakers that have always interested me, yet I’ve managed to keep on the back-burner for whatever reason. In the past I’ve seen both Vampyr and The Passion of Joan of Arc, both of which amazed me; the latter, in fact, is within my all-time personal favorites. I finally decided to delve more into his work with Ordet, one of his more well-known works, and, undoubtedly, a masterpiece all on its own.

Simply put, Ordet is a film about faith. Moreover, it is about faith in all its dimensions, from the uneasy and ugly to the optimistic and redeeming. We are given the Borgen family as the narrative backbone, of which Morten (Henrik…

Carl Theodor Dreyer's Ordet is a film I waited far too long to see. Nearly a year ago I saw his great The Passion of Joan of Arc and, thoroughly impressed with it, I neglected to check out any of his other work. Now, finally, it has come to me. I have acquired copies of Vampyr, Day of Wrath, Ordet and Gertrud, and I decided to start with the one that got the highest praise from Twitter followers.

Ordet is the study of one day in the life of two spiritually strong families who believe in different religions but have a mutually respective relationship with each other. Borgen is the patriarch of his family, and has three sons: Mikkel, married…

I started my Dreyer month with Ordet, a film I have not seen in 12 years. It was about time to revisit this beautiful and very spiritual film. What we have here is a late Dreyer, quite different from his early film. Everything slowed down in is later films and the scenes became longer. The set and the scenes became also much emptier, almost naked. The same even goes for the outdoors shots. Dreyer proves that there is beauty and power in simplicity!

The film is about a religious father who has 3 sons, one has lost his faith, one wants to marry a daughter of a fundamentalist and one has gone mad, and believes he is Jesus Christ.

The…

During this month I have been watching films regarded as classics far and wide, whilst some bumps, I have stumbled upon many fantastic films already. This is no exception despite what I will go on to say. Ordet scatters itself around many of the broader abstract themes of life and death, faith and pride, the selfishness and soullessness in aspects of spirituality, a point not dwelled upon often in film for reasons all too known. The most interesting; tragedy, loss, and the inability of the human mind to comprehend it, the inability to do anything when the stakes are highest. It must be gods will. Why is it gods will. Why. Is it all just meaningless babble? When all else…

Even on a second viewing after over a year of time between seeing Ordet, Dreyer's film still brought me to tears. An unimaginable act considering how religious themed the movie is and my views on religion (or lack there of).

Ordet is based from a play written by Christian Pastor Kaj Munk who was murdered by the Gestapo during WWII and the German occupation of Denmark. Munk's spirituality may linger through the lines and seams of the film but it is Dreyer who pumps life and meaning to its finished form.

It's story delves into discussions on love, neighborliness, family, devotion and above all faith. Morten Borgen struggles as the patriarch of the Borgen Farm to retain faith amongst his…

Danish director Carl Dreyer is one of those filmmakers that have always interested me, yet I’ve managed to keep on the back-burner for whatever reason. In the past I’ve seen both Vampyr and The Passion of Joan of Arc, both of which amazed me; the latter, in fact, is within my all-time personal favorites. I finally decided to delve more into his work with Ordet, one of his more well-known works, and, undoubtedly, a masterpiece all on its own.

Simply put, Ordet is a film about faith. Moreover, it is about faith in all its dimensions, from the uneasy and ugly to the optimistic and redeeming. We are given the Borgen family as the narrative backbone, of which Morten (Henrik…

Ordet uses long lasting shots that constantly breeze left and right to find new areas of focus, fairly static in position but always on the lookout; bareboned at heart but events always unfolding. A 'slow' film in every sense of the word, but the peaceful pace quietly suckered me in and I found it mighty difficult to look away; the 120 minute run time was never a real problem (ending scenes excluded).

The naked locations—primarily ordinary rooms—give heightened focus on the characters, but yet still are given a quiet attention of their own. It is very much like a play. Using what bare background there is, Dreyer clearly attempts to inspire discovery in his viewers through shadows, light and objects…

I started my Dreyer month with Ordet, a film I have not seen in 12 years. It was about time to revisit this beautiful and very spiritual film. What we have here is a late Dreyer, quite different from his early film. Everything slowed down in is later films and the scenes became longer. The set and the scenes became also much emptier, almost naked. The same even goes for the outdoors shots. Dreyer proves that there is beauty and power in simplicity!

The film is about a religious father who has 3 sons, one has lost his faith, one wants to marry a daughter of a fundamentalist and one has gone mad, and believes he is Jesus Christ.

The…