MOVIE DESCRIPTION:

As the director of such classics as The Passion of Joan of Arc and Vampyr, Danish filmmaker Carl Theodor Dreyer left a lasting impression in the world of cinema that will never be forgotten. Now Dreyer's remarkable work finally gets the attention it deserves as The Criterion Collection releases three of his best-known films in addition to an in-depth documentary on the filmmaker. Each film in this collection is presented in its original aspect ratio and accompanied by Danish Dolby Digital Mono soundtracks with optional English-language subtitles. Bonus materials on Day of Wrath and Ordet include deleted footage from Torben Skjødt Jensen's documentary Carl Th. Dreyer: My Métier and a stills gallery. Extras on Gertrud include deleted footage from Jensen's documentary Carl Th. Dreyer: My Métier, archival footage from the production of Gertrud, and a stills gallery; and bonus materials for Carl Th. Dreyer: My Métier include rare interview footage and archival materials, an extensive biographical essay by Dreyer scholar Edvin Kau, and a 22-page booklet that includes a reprint of Dreyer's essay "Thoughts on My Métier." ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

DVD FEATURES:

• Region: 1
• Number of Discs: 4
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1 (Pre-1954 Standard), 1.66:1 (Vistavision)
• Audio: PCM Mono, PCM Stereo, 5.1
• Screen: Enhanced Wide Screen Letterbox for 16x9 TV, Pan and Scan, Black and White
• Subtitle: English
• Features:
  • • New digital transfers of all the films, supervised by Gertrud cinematographer Henning Bendtsen
    • Interviews with cast members from Day of Wrath, Ordet, and Gertrud
    • Archival footage of Dreyer during the production of Gertrud
    • Interviews with Dreyer cinematographers Henning Bendtsen and Jørgen Roos
    • 22-page booklet, including a reprint of Dreyer's essay "Thoughts on My Métier"
    • An exclusive essay by Dreyer scholar Edvin Kau
    • Stills galleries accompanying each film
    • Gertrud enhanced for 16 x 9 televisions

AWARDS

• National Board of Review

•     Won Best Foreign Film - 1957
•     Nominated Best Foreign Film - 1965
•     Nominated Best Picture - 1948

• Venice International Film Festival

•     Won Golden Lion - 1955 (Carl Theodor Dreyer)

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

• Director:

  Carl Theodor Dreyer, Torben Skjødt Jensen

• Producer:

  Carl Theodor Dreyer, Jorgen Nielsen, Michael Brask

• Screenwriter:

  Carl Theodor Dreyer, Poul Knudsen, Mogens Skot-Hansen

• Book Author:

  Hans Wiers Jenssen

• Play Author:

  Kaj Munk, Hjalmar Soderberg

• Screenwriter:

  Prami Larsen, Torben Skjødt Jensen

• Cinematographer:

  Karl Andersson, Henning Bendtsen, Arne Abrahamsen, Harald Paalgard, Prami Larsen, Torben Skjødt Jensen

• Composer (Music Score):

  Poul Schierbeck

• Featured Music:

  Robert Schumann

• Composer (Music Score):

  Jorgen Jersild

• Songwriter:

  Grethe Risbjerg Thomsen, Heinrich Heine

• Composer (Music Score):

  Anders Koppel

• Editor:

  Edith Schlüssel, Anne Marie Petersen, Ghita Beckendorff

• Art Director:

  Erik Aaes, Kai Rasch

• Co-producer:

  Marianne Slot

• Sound/Sound Designer:

  Jens Bangsholt

REVIEWS:

• Carl Theodor Dreyer's second sound film (after 1932's Vampyr) and his first after nearly a decade of inactivity, Vredens Dag was released during the height of the Nazi occupation of Denmark and, due to its strong political content, Dreyer was forced to flee to Sweden immediately after making it. Based on a Norwegian play by Hans Wiers-Jenssen, the film, set in 17th century Denmark, deals with the mysterious transgression of a young woman, the second wife of a self-ascetic pastor who falls in love with the minister's son from his first marriage, wishes aloud for her husband's death, and is accused of witchcraft and killed after he dies of a stroke. Though it's clearly critical of the intolerance it depicts, the movie is not simply a treatise on the hypocrisy of witch hunts. Vredens Dag uses the tantalizing mystery at the center of the story to explore the place where societal and individual responsibilities mix and become inseparable. All of Dreyer's stylistic trademarks are in place: an extreme austerity in the compositions, an emphasis on the contrast between black and white, an abundance of slow tracking shots, and a judicious use of extreme close-ups. The film moves with Dreyer's customary deliberate pace, but nevertheless it's one of his most accessible films. Lead actress Lisbeth Movin's spectacular final moments, as she accepts her fate, bring to mind the legendary Maria Falconetti in Dreyer's early masterpiece, La Passion de Jeanne d'Arc. ~ Mark Pittillo, Rovi
• It's difficult to imagine why antipathy initially greeted what proved to be Carl Theodor Dreyer's last film. Granted, Gertrud did not have the ambitious scope of Ordet or the intensity of either Vredens Dag (Day of Wrath) or La Passion de Jeanne d'Arc. Perhaps by 1964 Dreyer's style was considered stodgy, as it involved long takes in which he prefers his camera to follow his characters, or, in conversation, to pan back and forth between them, always keeping a respectful distance (the film reportedly has only 89 shots). In retrospect, it is possible to see Gertrud Kanning as yet another troubled soul in the Dreyer universe. The three loves in her life -- her husband Gustav, her former lover Gabriel, and her current lover Erland -- all fail to satisfy her simple requirement for ongoing and unselfish affection. In the film's key scene, shown in flashback, Gertrud discovers a note written on scrap paper on Gabriel's desk -- "A woman's love and a man's work are mortal enemies" -- that she comes to understand will always be a barrier against her ever finding happiness with a man. In the title role, Nina Pens Rode offers an exquisite portrait of a woman in emotional distress but also beginning to understand the power she has to control her own emotional destiny, even if it requires living it out in solitude. ~ Tom Wiener, Rovi
• His return to features after a decade of documentary shorts, Ordet (1955) is one of Danish master Carl Theodor Dreyer's most intense examinations of faith and religion. The second film version of Kaj Munk's play, Dreyer crisply lays out Ordet's different permutations of religious belief in the opening search for delusional theology student Johannes, setting up the conflict between personal faith and public piety that drives a fateful wedge between less-structured believer Morten and fundamentalist Peter. Dreyer's long-panning shots, glorious rural vistas, and carefully lit, precise interior compositions underline the earthly ramifications of the theological arguments. Though the stunning conclusion may seem to speak for itself, the preceding events turn it into a more complex question of what it means to live one's faith. Austere yet deeply moving, Ordet won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival; the growing 1950s following for thematically and artistically challenging international cinema turned Ordet into Dreyer's biggest commercial success. Regardless, the famously meticulous and rigorous filmmaker completed only one more feature before he died in 1968. ~ Lucia Bozzola, Rovi