Gertrud (1964)

Gertrud
Directed by Carl Th. Dreyer
Written by Carl. Th. Dreyer from a play by Hjalmar Sodenberg
1964/Denmark
Palladium Film
Repeat viewing/Netflix rental
One of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die

[box] Gabriel Lidman: You taught me love is everything. We shouldn’t be alone. I have been alone much too much. We shouldn’t be just one of many. We need to be one of two.[/box]

Unbelievable how a story of love, passion, and heartbreak could be so emotionless.

In Gertrud’s world view, romantic love should be a person’s everything.  Naturally, she is disappointed with her lawyer husband’s love.  He is consumed with work and ambitious for a role in politics.  Prior to her marriage, she left her poet lover due to his dedication to work.

Now Gertrud is in love with a composer.  He’s going to break her heart as neither her husband nor her poet ever could.

I am a big fan of Dreyer’s work but this film leaves me completely cold.  The characters don’t even look at each other and keep a dead pan expression at all times.  It doesn’t help that I find Gertrud to be unlikeable in the extreme.  She deserves to be miserable.

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