The four stories/four historical era format doesn't leave much room for subtlety/craftsmanship, storytelling here is correspondingly blunt and basic.

Plotted in a way that suggests that whenever established churches do bad things, it's because Satan himself has personally intervened? How... convenient. I'd think that a career Christian like Dreyer would have thought twice before rewriting the Gospels to make them fit his imaginary thesis, though.

Episode 4 has some attractive Finland/1920 imagery, Episode 2 is a crude first-draft of Day Of Wrath...

Splendid, passionate, somewhat melodramatic story of the life of Satan being cast down by God to try to tempt Man's fate away from virtue.
Four chapters which range from Judas betraying Christ, the Spanish Inquisition, the execution of Marie Antoinette, and a modern day story in Finland with a Rasputin look alike.
A bit dated but still a clear example of Dreyer's thinking as an early director. Ideas about good and evil, about judgement, love and devotion; all themes which he would go much further with in the course of his career.
Perhaps the film will appeal to fans of the director more than anyone else. Yet the production quality remained in tact and it must have looked truly spectacular in 1920.
A clear labor of passion even if it survived with a few rough edges.

I propose a Letterboxd promotion in which the winner, chosen at random, who is me, is given a week all-expenses-paid trip to 1920 Copenhagen where I'll be given a nice hotel by the studio (such as it was) and will be allowed to join the crew of Carl Th. Dreyer's production shooting of LEAVES OUT OF THE BOOK OF SATAN. There it is, first item in my bucket list. I just want to watch Dreyer closely, perhaps find how he can construct even a less-than-stellar picture like this one, and yet come so close to transcendence in so many scenes and compositions. Come on Letterboxd cough it up.

It's way too long, and the 4 stories don't really gel into something great. They all just stand on their own, which is fine, but I'd rather have spent more time on two of them than watched all four. Cinematography is great, though, Dreyer wanted as much himself, so that's fine I guess.

A big evolution in this one in relation to previous works. It's a little pessimistic, but here we can see Dreyer's artistic personality showing the faith and spirituality.

Dreyer's third film, his cinematic breakthrough, is overlong, a bit prosaic and doesn't offer much in terms of narrative, but his stellar mise-en-scène and George Schnéevoigt's cinematography make every stunning shot worthy of being framed and put on a wall in any museum.

More reviews on filmotrope.com

The four stories/four historical era format doesn't leave much room for subtlety/craftsmanship, storytelling here is correspondingly blunt and basic.

Plotted in a way that suggests that whenever established churches do bad things, it's because Satan himself has personally intervened? How... convenient. I'd think that a career Christian like Dreyer would have thought twice before rewriting the Gospels to make them fit his imaginary thesis, though.

Episode 4 has some attractive Finland/1920 imagery, Episode 2 is a crude first-draft of Day Of Wrath...

É um filme de ritmo problemático e de certa forma um tanto quanto verborrágico. Mas não se pode negar e aplaudir a ousadia de Dreyer ao construir a figura de satã com tamanha humanidade. Sem contar que no aspecto formal o filme tem momentos maravilhosos, com closes e movimentos de câmera que mostram um autor ainda em construção.

It's way too long, and the 4 stories don't really gel into something great. They all just stand on their own, which is fine, but I'd rather have spent more time on two of them than watched all four. Cinematography is great, though, Dreyer wanted as much himself, so that's fine I guess.

I propose a Letterboxd promotion in which the winner, chosen at random, who is me, is given a week all-expenses-paid trip to 1920 Copenhagen where I'll be given a nice hotel by the studio (such as it was) and will be allowed to join the crew of Carl Th. Dreyer's production shooting of LEAVES OUT OF THE BOOK OF SATAN. There it is, first item in my bucket list. I just want to watch Dreyer closely, perhaps find how he can construct even a less-than-stellar picture like this one, and yet come so close to transcendence in so many scenes and compositions. Come on Letterboxd cough it up.

Splendid, passionate, somewhat melodramatic story of the life of Satan being cast down by God to try to tempt Man's fate away from virtue.
Four chapters which range from Judas betraying Christ, the Spanish Inquisition, the execution of Marie Antoinette, and a modern day story in Finland with a Rasputin look alike.
A bit dated but still a clear example of Dreyer's thinking as an early director. Ideas about good and evil, about judgement, love and devotion; all themes which he would go much further with in the course of his career.
Perhaps the film will appeal to fans of the director more than anyone else. Yet the production quality remained in tact and it must have looked truly spectacular in 1920.
A clear labor of passion even if it survived with a few rough edges.