I think "Passion of Joan of Arc" is one of the greatest films ever made and have been watching the rest of Dreyer's films in order and have found personally they haven't matched up to what he achieved in 1929. "Ordet" is widely considered to be his masterpiece, but as much as I appreciated the mastery of his direction and the never less than fascinating characters it left me cold. Yes, the end is affecting, but the message is hard to swallow, even glibly disrespectful, if you are not religious. "Ordet" seems to be a direct challenge to those of no or little faith and though it's easy to admire I found it impossible to love.
With 1955's Ordet (The Word), Dreyer weaves as complex an exploration of faith as he can, testing an aging patriarch's resolve with hardships that force a crisis of faith in him. He feels his prayers go unanswered and is plagued by three sons who challenge his beliefs. On one end of the spectrum, his eldest is a good, loving man without faith. His youngest has the faith but no real strength of character, and he's in love with a girl raised in another faith (akin to Jehovah's Witnesses), which is a problem for both him and the girl's father. And then there's the middle son who has gone mad and believes he is Jesus Christ's second coming. The test, then, is to keep his faith even though bad things happen and various parties blame them on his wavering belief or his belief in the wrong faith. We too are asked to evaluate what is right. Is it enough to live a good and moral life, i.e. does God require faith? Should faith celebrate life or only prepare for the afterlife (the patriarch considers the latter ghoulish, but his own miseries belie the tenets of his religion)? And where's the line between blasphemy and unbelief when it comes to the mad son's contention that he has supernatural agency? (He is in many ways like Dreyer's portrait of Joan of Arc.) The power of the film is that wherever you find yourself on a spiritual spectrum, it will have you praying (so to speak) for the central tragedy's reversal, and like the characters, a dialog with your faith or lack thereof will necessarily be engaged. Powerful.
The implausible ending ruined the entire mediocre film for me. Maybe it is because I am an atheist, I don't know. There are spiritual films I like, even love, but this one, not at all.
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Comments 1 - 15 of 17
johnnyg
They sure do love their coffeemonoglot
Maybe the most affecting zombie movie ever.dombrewer
I think "Passion of Joan of Arc" is one of the greatest films ever made and have been watching the rest of Dreyer's films in order and have found personally they haven't matched up to what he achieved in 1929. "Ordet" is widely considered to be his masterpiece, but as much as I appreciated the mastery of his direction and the never less than fascinating characters it left me cold. Yes, the end is affecting, but the message is hard to swallow, even glibly disrespectful, if you are not religious. "Ordet" seems to be a direct challenge to those of no or little faith and though it's easy to admire I found it impossible to love.Dieguito
Cinematic masterpiece! Impressive cinematography!Cippenham
One of the most interesting movies I have ever seen and what a good ending!Tarris1
A true masterpiece!Siskoid
With 1955's Ordet (The Word), Dreyer weaves as complex an exploration of faith as he can, testing an aging patriarch's resolve with hardships that force a crisis of faith in him. He feels his prayers go unanswered and is plagued by three sons who challenge his beliefs. On one end of the spectrum, his eldest is a good, loving man without faith. His youngest has the faith but no real strength of character, and he's in love with a girl raised in another faith (akin to Jehovah's Witnesses), which is a problem for both him and the girl's father. And then there's the middle son who has gone mad and believes he is Jesus Christ's second coming. The test, then, is to keep his faith even though bad things happen and various parties blame them on his wavering belief or his belief in the wrong faith. We too are asked to evaluate what is right. Is it enough to live a good and moral life, i.e. does God require faith? Should faith celebrate life or only prepare for the afterlife (the patriarch considers the latter ghoulish, but his own miseries belie the tenets of his religion)? And where's the line between blasphemy and unbelief when it comes to the mad son's contention that he has supernatural agency? (He is in many ways like Dreyer's portrait of Joan of Arc.) The power of the film is that wherever you find yourself on a spiritual spectrum, it will have you praying (so to speak) for the central tragedy's reversal, and like the characters, a dialog with your faith or lack thereof will necessarily be engaged. Powerful.KaramAkerfeldt
Heavy.HulotD
a miracle!Spacepimp
I cried a little. Fantastic.gama_jr
Can I fav it twice?Nine99
Hated the end. Stupidity wins.Louise_Dietrich
The implausible ending ruined the entire mediocre film for me. Maybe it is because I am an atheist, I don't know. There are spiritual films I like, even love, but this one, not at all.Limbesdautomne
To spread the word, nothing works better than a risen from the dead.Read more in French on La Saveur des goûts amers.
george4mon
one of the dullest movies i have ever seen, and what a stupid ending!.Showing items 1 – 15 of 17