Carl Th. Dreyer: My Métier (1995)
"Carl Th. Dreyer: Min metier" (original title)

Carl Theodor Dreyer is a young journalist in Copenhagen when he gets involved in the early Danish film industry. He writes scripts and inter-titles, and for some years he is the main editor... See full summary »

Director:

Torben Skjødt Jensen

Writers:

Torben Skjødt Jensen, Lars Bo Kimergaard (idea),

Stars:

Clara Pontoppidan, Hélène Falconetti, Lisbeth Movin

2 wins & 1 nomination.

Cast

Credited cast:
Clara Pontoppidan	...	Herself (archive footage)
Hélène Falconetti	...	Herself
Lisbeth Movin	...	Herself
Preben Lerdorff Rye	...	Himself
Jørgen Roos	...	Himself
Birgitte Federspiel	...	Herself
Henning Bendtsen	...	Himself
Baard Owe	...	Himself
Axel Strøbye	...	Himself
Brian Patterson	...	Director's Voice
David Bateson	...	Comments
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Carl Theodor Dreyer	...	Himself (archive footage)

Storyline

Carl Theodor Dreyer is a young journalist in Copenhagen when he gets involved in the early Danish film industry. He writes scripts and inter-titles, and for some years he is the main editor at Nordisk Film. After those years of apprenticeship he gets the opportunity to direct his first film in 1917. Dreyer wanted his films to carry his personal imprints down to the smallest details, and already in his first silent movies it's possible to find stylistic traits that characterize his entire film production until his last film in 1964. The settings of his first films are naturalistic, but for Dreyer realism is not an art in itself. Only psychological realism is. His main interest is not the outer life, but the inner, emotional life of human beings. Emotions are most visible in facial expressions, and Dreyer's films are full of close-ups of human faces. By capturing the subtle, visual expressions of his characters, Dreyer tries to reveal the feelings they conceal and the storms that are ...

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Plot Keywords:

reenactment | character name in title

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Genres:

Documentary | Biography

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

Denmark

Language:

Danish French

Release Date:

28 December 1995 (Denmark)

Also Known As:

Carl Th. Dreyer: My Métier

Company Credits

Production Co:

Steen Herdel Filmproduktion, Unni Straume Film

Technical Specs

Runtime:

96 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Deleted footage from this documentary is featured on the Criterion Collection DVD for Day of Wrath, AKA: Day of Wrath.

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Connections

References The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928)

User Reviews

Uneven and unsatisfying look at Dreyer's life.

Not knowing a lot about Dreyer or his films, I took the opportunity to watch this feature-length documentary on his life and work when I rented the BFI version of his 1925 silent film Master of the House. Having now watched it I've got to say that I've only really got a cursory knowledge of the man's life, a reasonable overview of his filmography and each film's importance within it, and quite a lot of insignificant anecdotes rattling around my head from a few of the actors who once worked with him. Dreyer once gave his cameraman a pair of his shoes that pinched his feet; he didn't like people holding doors open for him so that they were then standing behind him, etc. Interesting little snippets, but Danish people seem to talk so very slowly that these mostly pointless anecdotes take up too much screen time. The readings of Dreyer's own words are probably the most interesting and informative part of the film, but they are too sparsely scattered between more pedestrian fare.