Day of Wrath (1943)

Day of Wrath
Directed by Carl Theodor Dreyer
Written by Carl Theodor Dreyer, Poul Knudsen, and Mogens Scot-Hansen (all uncredited) from the play “Anne Pedersdotter” by Hans Wiers-Jenssen
1943/Denmark
Palladium Productions
Repeat viewing/Hulu Plus

[box] Anne Pedersdotter: I see through my tears, but no one comes to wipe them away.[/box]

Director Carl Th. Dreyer didn’t make many films but he made masterpieces.  This is one of them.

The action takes place in 17th Century Denmark.  Anne Pedersdotter is the young second wife of Rev. Absalon Pedersson, a middle-aged devout cleric in their small town.  The couple lives with Absalon’s mother Merete who views the May-September pairing as “scandalous” and freely admits that she hates Anne.  Absalon has a grown son, older than Anne, named Martin that is expected to come home and meet his new stepmother for the first time.

On the day Martin is to arrive, the local council of clerics announces that it is arresting Herlofs Marte as a witch.  We see the old woman selling herbs gathered under the gallows as a remedy before she runs off into hiding.  She shows up at Absalon’s house and begs Anne to hide her.  She informs Anne that she protected Anne’s mother from a witchcraft charge herself.  But Marte was spotted entering the house and is dragged out of the attic kicking and screaming.

Apparently part of the deal is that the witch must confess.  We move on to some non-graphic but nonetheless horrific torture scenes. Poor Marte is defiant but terrified and demands to talk to Absalon.  She tells him she knows he falsely ruled that Anne’s mother was not a witch in exchange for permission to wed Anne and threatens to disclose this if he does not likewise protect her.  But Absalon only exhorts Marte to repent and save her soul.  Marte replies that she is not afraid of heaven or hell, only of dying.  The torture proceeds and Marte finally confesses.  She refuses to name anyone else as a witch however.

In the meantime Anne and Martin are getting acquainted.  All this talk of Anne’s mother being a witch with the power to invoke the living and the dead gets Anne wondering whether she has any powers herself.  Sure enough, she can “invoke” Martin to her side and the two begin an affair.  It is a troubled union due to Martin’s great guilt.  Anne, however, is transformed into a laughing, defiant girl who stops taking orders from her awful mother-in-law.  She admits she has speculated on the happiness that could be hers if Absalon were dead.  She resents the fact the loveless marriage has robbed her of her youth.

As Herlofs Marte awaits her execution at the stake she curses Absalon, Anne, and another clerical torturer.  These curses rapidly seem to take effect.

I don’t know how to convey the beauty of the images and compositions Dreyer creates except to say each frame seems to me to resemble a great Dutch Master painting.  He didn’t allow his actors to wear any makeup at all, saying that he would paint their faces with light. He certainly did do that.

Another thing I love about Dreyer is that his films are so thought-provoking.  They always leave me with more questions than answers. What I find intriguing about this story is that every character in it actually believes in witchcraft.  The accusations are not cynically made.  In fact, the plot development seems to suggest that something more than coincidence is at work.  But, equally, this film is about man’s terrible inhumanity to man in the name of religion.  I also find Anne’s submission at the end intriguing.  She may believe herself to be a witch but just as likely she might feel she has nothing else to live for.

Some people see this as an allegory for Nazi persecution but Dreyer always denied having any such intention.

If you have patience for a slow, sedate pace, this is truly not to be missed.

Clip – opening