One of a kind: Carl Dreyer's make-over of the Kaj Munk play about religious differences in Denmark. Calculatedly talky, slow, and ponderous, it is shot in long takes, in theatrical space, and in leaden grays; and with all of that, it seems as if anchored inescapably to earth. And then a miracle happens -- literally. This is Dreyer's supreme testament of faith in Things Beyond -- freed from the fantasy apparatus of Vampyr and the ambiguity of Day of Wrath, unallied with any "approved" miracle-worker, and of course unapproached by any rival filmmaker: it leaves no room for doubt. (No room for doubt about him anyway.) At the same time, it is warmly humane and humanistic: the grieving widower's lament, "I loved her body too," is the sharpest-edged line in the entire debate. (1954) — Duncan Shepherd
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