Dreyer: From the Real to the Transcendental

"Realism in itself is not art, but there must be harmony between the genuineness of feelings and the genuineness of things. I try to force reality into a form of simplification and abbreviation in order to reach what I call psychological realism."
—Carl Theodor Dreyer (1889 - 1968)

Carl Theodor Dreyer once referred to himself as the leader of an artistic movement without any followers, and certainly the unique nature of his sparse and rigorous cinematic aesthetics has few equals in the cinema. Though Dreyer was one of the three artistic founding figures of the Scandinavian cinema, the extreme asceticism of his films is only suggested in the works of a more conventional filmmaker such as Ingmar Bergman.

Dreyer was born in Copenhagen on February 3, 1889. Originally interested in journalism and theater, he worked briefly as a reporter and critic for the Copenhagen daily newspaper Berlingske Tidende. By 1912, he began working for the Nordisk Films Kompagni as a script reader and, eventually, scriptwriter. His success as a screenwriter led to the oppor­tunity to direct his first film, The President (Denmark 1918).

Most of Dreyer's films made during the silent era are generally con­sidered to be relatively minor works, though some are-currently experiencing critical reevaluation. The Passion of Joan of Arc (France 1928) has long been considered his first truly important film in which Dreyer begins to break away from the rules and structure of the conventional Western cinema.

The screenplay for The Passion of Joan of Arc was based upon the actual transcripts of St. Joan's trial in 1431. Marie Falconetti, an actress whom Dreyer had discovered in a comedic play in Paris, was selected for the role largely on the basis of her appearance without make-up. This became an important attribute, for The Passion of Joan of Arc is largely composed of an unrelenting series of extreme close-ups in which Falconetti's face becomes one of the most expressive elements of the film.

Dreyer explored the suffering and martyrdom of St. Joan through an intensely detailed presentation of visual reality. The nearly claustro­phobic series of close-ups which dominate the images of The Passion of Joan of Arc forces the viewer into an intimate and contemplative relationship with the film. It is through the over-powering nature of these images that Dreyer communicates the strength of St. Joan's spiritual faith in the face of doubt and persecution.

While the dominant form of expression in The Passion of Joan of Arc is the vividness of the photographic image, verbal language is the chief concern of Gertrud (Denmark 1964). In this film, Dreyer gives equal weight to the dialogue and image, allowing a series of extreme long-takes and protracted monologues. By choosing to use a highly rhythmic and artificial-sounding form of Danish for all the dialogue, Dreyer creates a distinct form of intonation.

Gertrud presents an inwardly focused, psychological form of spiritual conflict and an emotional sense of isolation which is so prevalent in Dreyer's films. In this regard, Gertrud is one in a series of Dreyer's portraits of women faced with either an overt or covert form of martyrdom. Along with The Passion of Joan of Arc and Day of Wrath (Denmark 1943) it forms a thematic triptych.

Day of Wrath was filmed by Dreyer during the Nazi occupation of Denmark. Although Dreyer had already firmly established an interest in portraying themes about intolerance and persecution, this film shows an almost obsessive concern with this subject matter.

The central character is a woman accused of witchcraft, although her only real crime is the rejection of a system of organized deceit fostered by her society. The film creates a frightening portrait of a society controlled by repressed hatred and systematic brutality. Although the story is set in 1623, the society depicted is hauntingly parallel to the modern age in its capacity for organized murder.

The bleak vision presented by Dreyer in Day of Wrath is, in a way, the counter-point to his vision of faith in the film Ordet (Denmark 1954). The Christ-like figure of Johannes in Ordet is the personification of Dreyer's view of pure faith and, despite the tragic narrative of the film, Ordet represents the optimistic side of Dreyer's theological viewpoint.

Ordet was based on the play by Kaj Munk, a prominent Danish play­wright and Lutheran minister who was executed by the Nazis during their occupation of Denmark. The film was made with the cooperation of Munk's widow and filmed in Munk's native village. Dreyer clearly felt a special affiliation to Munk's work, once stating: "I was so much happier doing Ordet when I felt myself very close to the conceptions of Kaj Munk."

When Dreyer died on March 20, 1968, he was preparing the screenplay for the film project Jesus, a detailed study on the beginning of Christianity and the origins of anti-Semitism. The surviving screenplay of this project attests to Dreyer's intense concern with prejudice as well as the unique nature of his artistic gift and vision.