Ordet (1955)

User Rating:

7.8/10   

Writer:

Kaj Munk (play)
(more)

Release Date:

10 January 1955 (Denmark)

Genre:

Drama

Plot Keywords:

Husband Wife Relationship | Imagery | Family Relationships | Loss Of Wife | Religion

Awards:

Won Golden Globe. Another 5 wins

Cast

Hanne Agesen	...	Karen, a Servant (uncredited)
Kirsten Andreasen	...	(uncredited)
Sylvia Eckhausen	...	Kirstin Petersen (uncredited)
Birgitte Federspiel	...	Inger, Mikkel's Wife (uncredited)
Ejner Federspiel	...	Peter Petersen (uncredited)
Emil Hass Christensen	...	Mikkel Borgen (uncredited)
Cay Kristiansen	...	Anders Borgen (uncredited)
Preben Lerdorff Rye	...	Johannes Borgen (uncredited)
Henrik Malberg	...	Morten Borgen (uncredited)
Gerda Nielsen	...	Anne Petersen (uncredited)
Ann Elisabeth Rud	...	Maren Borgen, Mikkel's Daughter (uncredited)
Ove Rud	...	Pastor (uncredited)
Susanne Rud	...	Lilleinger Borgen, Mikkel's Daughter (uncredited)
Henry Skjær	...	The Doctor (uncredited)
Edith Trane	...	Mette Maren (uncredited)

Directed by
Carl Theodor Dreyer		(uncredited)

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Carl Theodor Dreyer		uncredited
Kaj Munk		play

Produced by
Carl Theodor Dreyer	....	producer (uncredited)
Erik Nielsen	....	producer (uncredited)
Tage Nielsen	....	producer (uncredited)

Original Music by
Poul Schierbeck		(uncredited)

Cinematography by
Henning Bendtsen		(uncredited)

Film Editing by
Edith Schlüssel		(uncredited)

Production Design by
Erik Aaes		(uncredited)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Jesper Gottschalch	....	assistant director (uncredited)
Karen Petersen	....	assistant director (uncredited)

Sound Department
Knud Kristensen	....	sound (uncredited)
Kaj Larsen	....	sound assistant (uncredited)
Henning Møller	....	sound assistant (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
John Carlsen	....	assistant camera (uncredited)
Erik Wittrup Willumsen	....	assistant camera (uncredited)

Music Department
Emil Reesen	....	conductor (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Palladium Film

Distributors

• Kingsley-International Pictures (1957) (USA) (theatrical) (subtitled)
• Notro Films (2005) (Spain) (theatrical)
• Criterion Collection, The (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• Criterion Film Corp. (2001) (DVD)
• Kinowelt Home Entertainment (2009) (Germany) (DVD)
• Magnus Opus (2005) (Brazil) (DVD)
• Rosebud Films S.L. (Spain)

Also Known As:

The Word

Runtime:

126 min

Country:

Denmark

Language:

Danish

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:PG | Finland:K-16 | Argentina:16

Company:

Palladium Film

Trivia:

Kaj Munk's is the only name in the credits.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in From Dreyer to von Trier: An Interview with Cinematographer Henning Bendtsen (2005) (V)

Not only brilliant, but truly engaging

Others have reviewed this picture in a more scholarly and contextual manner than I can, so I will only endeavor to add the following:

I have a particular interest in the nature of faith, and undertook to view Ordet as something "good for me," but probably arduous. Wrong! I also grew up in an area heavily populated by Scandinavians, and knew immigrants who were contemporaries of the oldest characters in the picture.

Ordet, set in 1925, is a dead-on take of old-school Scandinavian culture, suffused with both the most intense dramatic elements imaginable and moments of comic relief as well. The action moves right along without help of special effects or a distracting musical score.

This picture at least alludes to the seldom-asked question, "Why do people believe?" Is it merely for the rewards of faithfulness, or something more?

The final scene, utterly devoid of effects or music, has a dramatic power unexcelled in the ensuing 47 years of cinema to date. It is very long, but uses its duration in service of the tension of the story. Nobody is yelling, fighting or firing weapons, despite the fact they are enduring emotional torment that is as painful as it gets.

In an oblique way, the scene reminded me of the part of Jim Jarmusch's "Down By Law" where Tom Waits and Co. are sitting in the clink in real time, and time passes glacially in one very long scene, illustrating the sheer boredom of incarcerated life. Here real time is used to illustrate the unrelenting nature of grief. In both cases we see what happens long after the scene would have changed in nearly any other picture. The pace conforms plausibly with real life, and in so doing serves the dramatic tension.

One negative review alludes to the final shot and the expression in a character's eyes. I would defend that as an insight that no blessing is unmixed.

As others have noted, one needn't hold a Christian point of view to enjoy this film and be given much to ponder. See it.