A Drama of Fear and Superstition in the 20th Century
A Drama of Fear and Superstition in the 20th Century
Drama, Romance
-
1943
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In a Danish village in the early 1600s, a young woman named Anne, whose mother was thought to be a witch, develops sympathy toward an old woman, Marte, who is accused of witchcraft. The intervention of Anne's older but kindly husband, Pastor Absalon saved her mother -- but now, urged on by his overbearing mother, he refuses to help Marte. When Absalon's son returns home and is attracted to Anne, it's a matter of time before her family destiny catches up with her.
Danish director Carl Theodor Dreyer's 1943 masterpiece begins as a film about seventeenth-century witch hunts in Northern Europe, but it's really a psychological thriller about the pull of evil on weak souls.
– Sara Cardace,
New York Magazine/Vulture,
25 Aug 2008
fresh:
A lesser Dreyer work, but only in comparison with his own achievements.
– Joshua Rothkopf,
Time Out New York,
27 Aug 2008
fresh:
A stark, brooding treatment of adultery, incest, and murder, an elemental tragedy not so far from a James M. Cain triangle, albeit shot so as to deliberately evoke the Dutch masters.
– J. Hoberman,
Village Voice,
28 Aug 2008
fresh:
I'd be saving a spot for it near the top of my 10-best list if the movie hadn't been made 65 years ago.
– Andrew O'Hehir,
Salon.com,
28 Aug 2008
fresh:
However bleak, Day of Wrath is a masterpiece. See it.