Synopsis
Carl Theodor Dreyer has long been exalted by film connoisseurs for The Passion of Joan of Arc, Vampyr, Day of Wrath, and Ordet . With The Parson's Widow , we meet a different Dreyer: a director who engages with broad humor, then gradually guides to a wise, bittersweet resolution. Sofren, an aspiring parson, is engaged to Mari, but her father won't allow them to marry until Sofren gets a ministry. He's hired by a small rural congregation only to discover that according to local custom, the widow of the deceased pastor may marry his successor. An aged woman who has already buried three earlier husbands, Dame Margarete asserts her right in order to keep her home, but Sofren also brings Mari to the parish claiming that she is his sister. The two plan to wait for the elderly woman to die. When it appears she might be eternal, Sofren begins a series of silly pranks to hasten the old lady's end, but before her death her wisdom, dignity and selflessness teach the young couple a great deal about fundamental humanity. The Parson's Widow from 1920 has been called "the first real Dreyer film" as it prefigures key themes in his later work. The film was beautifully photographed by George Schneevoigt (who would late go on to direct Laila , also available from Flicker Alley) in the 17th-century museum village of Lillehammer, Norway. The original luminous quality is substantially preserved in this edition, digitally mastered from a 35mm camera-negative print. Two rare Dreyer shorts accompany the feature. They Caught the Ferry (1948) adapts the technique of Dreyer's horror/fantasy Vampyr to a chilling and unforgettable miniature on driver safety. Thorvaldsen: Denmark's Great Sculptor (1949) uses the long lenses and confrontational style of The Passion of Joan of Arc to illuminate the search for truth in the work of the greatest Danish sculptor, which turns out to have a surprising affinity with Dreyer's own cinema. 1920/ Sweden / B& W/ 71 minutes Svensk Filmindustri Production Directed by Carl Theodor Dreyer Scenario by Carl Theodor Dreyer, from the short story "Prestekonen" by Kristofer Janson Photography by George Schneevoigt Music compiled by Neal Kurz, from the works of Edvard Grieg Starring: Greta Almoth , Einar Rod , Hildur Carlberg , Olva Aukrust, Emil Helsengreen, Mathilde Nielsen, Lorentz Thyholt, Kurt Welin They Caught the Ferry (De Naede Faergen) 1948 / Sweden / B&W / 10 minutes Directed by Carl Theodor Dreyer Presented by arrangement with the Danish Film Institute Thorvaldsen: Denmark's Great Sculptor 1949 / Sweden / B&W / 11 minutes Directed by Carl Theodor Dreyer Presented by arrangement with the Danish Film Institute