Rating: 
Summary: Some of the best from one of the best.
Review: A stunning success from Criterion. Cinephiles who know Dreyer's works will doubtless buy this box-set sight unseen, so my review is more for the curious-minded who haven't seen these movies:*Day of Wrath* (Five Stars): Groundbreaking masterpiece about witchcraft in Reformation-era Denmark. The general feeling, I may as well tell you, is one of unrelenting misery. A well-into-middle-age Lutheran clergyman lives with his sour mother and his twenty-something beautiful wife. His adult son from his first marriage returns home to find that his "stepmother" is the same age as he is . . . guess what happens. Meanwhile, the old clergyman presides over the burning of a nice old lady who has been accused by the village elders of being a witch and a minion of Satan. (Yes, Joe McCarthy wasn't Miller's sole inspiration for *The Crucible* -- this movie predates that play.) So far, so good, right? Well, don't be too sure: as a matter of fact, the old biddy IS sort of a witch, as is the beautiful young wife. For that matter, the old pastor is anything but a meanie: he's a decent old stick . . . his principles are compromised, to be sure, but he's no villain. And neither is his sourpuss mother: even she has some vindication at the end. Check your assumptions at the door. Oppressive society? or a society that creates the very Evil that it persecutes? or a society merely protecting itself? Dreyer treats us like grown-ups, letting us ponder the ambivalences of this dark masterwork for ourselves. *Ordet* (Five Stars): Based on a play by someone called Kaj Munk. Makes a serious claim to be the Best Movie Ever Made. It's so starkly artful, so ultimately beautiful, that it really defeats a 1-paragraph critique. Suffice to say that it's about Faith -- various forms of it, the potential destructiveness of it, the conditional nature of it, the absolute need of it. And yet, despite the metaphysical themes, the cast of characters are as earthy as they come (most of the story, and the miraculous climax, takes place on a farm). Doubtless this was part of Munk's design, and Dreyer realizes it masterfully, particularly with the depiction of the old patriarch: so lovable, so stubborn, so real, that it's only divine justice that miracles should come to him and his family. The family, by the way, are also all of the above. You care TREMENDOUSLY about each one of these folks, Inger especially. Don't let beetle-browed film critics dissuade you from watching *Ordet* with their use of words like "difficult". Yeah, it's slow -- as befitting a spiritual story of simple people -- but not at all difficult. Dreyer demands patience -- and that doesn't require an abundance of genius. Just an open heart. And mind. *Gertrud* (Four Stars): Not as entirely brilliant as the other two movies in the set, but still pretty great. Dreyer's last film, it's also his most beautifully shot. The setting is very Dreyerian: turn of the last century, in the homes of rather seedy politicos, puffed-up poets, and conventional bohemians. Extraordinarily talky and static. This is usually effective, though sometimes the phrase "overly austere" will probably cross your mind. This is ascetic filmmaking: rigidly composed, written, and staged. The movie's biggest drawback is the not-terribly-new-or-shocking (in fact, Ibsen-vintage) feminism theme. Unhappily married woman wants out . . . I think Dreyer forgot to ask himself, "So what else is new?" with regards to his story. But the movie is still very much worthwhile. Nina Pens Rode's performance as Gertrud will linger in your mind long after you remove the DVD from its player. (A Note on the bonus documentary -- Two Stars): Mostly interviews with actors, DP's, cameramen, and such who are (or were) still alive and who worked with Dreyer. These old men and women make it abundantly clear that Carl Dreyer was eccentric, a perfectionist, a genius . . . which was already pretty clear to me after watching his movies, but whatever. A little more discussion of the man's life, as well as some critical chat on the films, would've been nice. All in all, however, this box-set stands as a sharp rebuke to all those yobs who think that movies can only be "movies", or "flicks", and never art. Dreyer made art -- appreciate it or get out of the way.
Rating:
Summary: Forgotten treasures by the world's best director ever !
Review: Carl Th. Dreyer is a director in dire need of rediscovery by cineasts and dedicated tv broadcaster alike. DAY OF WRATH and ORDET used to figure frequently on prominent critics 10 BEST FILMS EVER lists ever but lately this Danish auteur seems to have been sidetracked. Now DAY OF WRATH and ORDET are again released in glorious, restored versions. Both utterly compelling films going straight for your brain and throat. These two masterpieces are complimented by Dreyer's last ouevre GERTRUD, a work with which the darling director of the young French New Wave directors managed to split a world of critics into two shouting halves. Also included in the beautiful box is a stunning new documentary. Treat yourself, treat your school, treat your viewers. It's doesn't come better.
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent directing, stilted material
Review: Dreyer was concerned with truth, which he defined as being true to life. Words, voice quality, movement, lighting all had to reflect the script as refracted through a realistic exposition of human nature. Dreyer achieved this truth. There is no denying he was a genius at directing. Yet all in all, these stories are uninteresting. After the first half of Ordet, the remainder of the plot is fairly predictable. And I hate to say it, but Gertrud is just plain boring. We learn a bit about the meaning of love, but hardly enough to recompense our time. Yet Gertrud exemplifies the problem with the material. Dreyer's concern for truth was for truth in detail, yet the deep truths expressed in Gertrud are of a philosophical nature, i.e. the larger truths that represent the summary wisdom gained over a lifetime. If it is true, as Dreyer said, that we enter the theater and are transported into a different experience, it seems obvious that we would not want it to be "real" in the sense of that which seems like our common, everyday lives. Some of the "reality TV" shows that give us a glimpse into the life of ordinary people only reveal that these people are...well, ordinary. In fact, most of those people are darned uninteresting, their ideas pedestrian, and their conversation dull. While I shun movies loaded with special effects, explosions, and artificial tensions predictably resolved, I also expect the movie to open a window into the imagination by presenting a plot that has a germ of something unreal. These three movies are thoughtful, but not thought provoking. The photography is excellent and, in fact, the most exciting part of the production. The staging is meticulous. And the transfers are superb (Thanks again, Critereon!). I want to make it clear that my disappointment with these films issues from neither the usual American impatience with slow expositions and pacing, nor from unfamiliarity with foreign films. I loved Afterlife, and have many other foreign films in my collection. Again, Dreyer was a genius. But the material he chose and his literal treatment of it make this set a disappointment. Of the four discs, only the one about Dreyer (My Metier) was truly interesting. Day Of Wrath is mildly interesting, but one I could easily miss.
Rating:
Summary: Masterpieces
Review: I as well think Ordet is the best of the collection. Its haunting and powerful narrative provides a daring yet refreshing look into faith and death. But its gush of intense emotion towards the end sets it above Tarkovsky and even Bergman who must have been influenced by Dreyer and tried to reach his cinematic level. I also consider him the greatest filmmaker ever.
Rating:
Summary: Criterion's Best Boxed Set Yet
Review: I purchased this box set having only previously seen Dreyer's Day of Wrath (and Passion of Joan of Arc, which although not included is available separately on a great disc from Criterion as well) and I had little preconception of Ordet and Gertrud except that they were supposed masterpieces. Upon watching the 3 films and documentary included, I realize Dreyer's reputation as an intense stylist & perfectionist is well deserved. His films have a reputation for being unbearable to watch, apparently, but I didn't find them to be horrible at all. They do not have much in the way of entertainment value (Ordet contains the sole explicit joke in the 3 films), but aspire to loftier goals. The films are filled with slow, long tracking shots and feature progressively fewer close-ups. All of the films are exceptionally talky by today's standards, and all feature stunning manipulation of light to suggest emotional states of the characters. Of the three films, I felt Ordet was the best. The film caught me off guard with its ability to shock me with its beauty and raw emotion. This is probably the best filmic exploration of religion that I have ever seen. The characters are archetypes, to be sure, but the actors embody them with enough emotion that they transcend them. The film has perhaps the most powerful, subtle use of special effects that I have ever seen. I feel this is one of the absolute masterpieces of cinema and am eager to revisit it. Gertrud is a lesser film than Ordet, though not by much. Like Ordet, the films characters are archetypes, but somehow transcend them. I think these three films are amazingly adept at establishing an "at the speed of life" pacing that lulls us into thinking we're watching real people with real concerns as the themes leap into universal territory. Gertrud's character is one of the most interesting pre-feminist women I've seen in cinema and I think Dreyer's refusal to judge her in any way saves the film from being the bore that many find it. Day of Wrath is probably the simplest of the three films, but it is still a great work. Ironically, it's the film with the most outward action in it, and it has the most outwardly accessible subject matter, so I'm surprised it appealed to me the least. Nonetheless, it's gorgeous, impeccably acted, and has plenty of dramatic heft. As a viewer of modern film, I notice that these three films bear deep thematic resemblances to the films of cinema's other Great Dane, Lars von Trier. I would be so bold as to call the majority of von Trier's work a homage to Dreyer's oeuvre. Of course, one of his first projects was the realization of Dreyer's unfilmed script for Medea. A few years later, his Europa echoed the theme of Day of Wrath (suspicion of guilt becomes self-fulfilling prophecy). Obviously, Breaking the Waves and Ordet share last-minute religious redemption, but consider the leads of his The Idiots and Dreyer's Gertrud. Both are victims/martyrs of their adherence to an ideal, and that no one in their community can match it... and what is Dancer in the Dark if not a musical celebration of cinema that at the same time evokes Passion of Joan of Arc? I don't feel this reduces either director's films... rather I feel this set of old classics has enabled me to better examine some new ones. Also, the fourth disc is a somewhat middling documentary that, while cute, seems to focus more on recalling the mannerisms of the director than the intent of his work or the critical reactions to it. The liner notes are excellent. The set as a whole is indispensable.
Rating:
Summary: My Metier
Review: I've been a longtime fan of the films of Dreyer, not only for the profound themes that he portrays in his films, but also for the unusual way he sets and composes his scenes. Each film I have viewed of his yields remarkably composed still scenes that would stand alone as works of art. The documentary DVD that accompanies this set is worth the price of the collection. Not only is it informative, but it is produced with an artistic visual style that perfectly complements its subject matter.
Rating:
Summary: My Metier
Review: I've been a longtime fan of the films of Dreyer, not only for the profound themes that he portrays in his films, but also for the unusual way he sets and composes his scenes. Each film I have viewed of his yields remarkably composed still scenes that would stand alone as works of art. The documentary DVD that accompanies this set is worth the price of the collection. Not only is it informative, but it is produced with an artistic visual style that perfectly complements its subject matter.
Rating:
Summary: Great Box Set
Review: It is fantastic that Criterion supervised this release. The biography disc is OK - too bad we didn't get 'Vampyr' instead - but the three Dreyer movies alone are worth far more than Criterion asks us to pay.
Rating:
Summary: Great Box Set
Review: It is fantastic that Criterion supervised this release. The biography disc is OK - too bad we didn't get 'Vampyr' instead - but the three Dreyer movies alone are worth far more than Criterion asks us to pay.
Rating:
Summary: Entering the great Danish artist's world
Review: The author of "La passion de Jeanne D'Arc" has finally seen from heaven how his five best masterpieces are avaliable for every person in the world. And, of course, it had to be The Criterion Collection who made this possible. The three works of art ("Gertrud", "Ordet" and "Vredens dag") are presented in gorgeus Black and White preserving its original aspect ratio, with good extras and accompained by a magnificent additional disc presenting the documentary "Carl Th. Dreyer: Min Metier". These three Danish films are living beings of film history. They represent the highest level of "trascendental cinema" and create a new visual and conceptual world. The 'mise en scene', composition and character developing reach an unbelievable strength in most of the sequences in this Collection. I can't finish without suggesting you to buy this magnificent pack as well as the other two Dreyer's films released by Criterion on DVD: "La passion de Jeanne d'Arc" and "Vampyr". If you do this, the artistic level of your 'DVDtheque' will improve enormusly.
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