• The film was during Nazi occupation, so that allegory serves beyond even the world of the film’s narrative
  • First feature in 11 years for Dreyer (Vampyr was 1932)
  • It’s a story of persecution just like Joan of Arc
  • Beautiful long opening take of Anna Sviekier’s Herlofs Marte fleeing
  • His style forms and aesthetic choices largely vary throughout his work, but, as always, you get intelligence and theology
  • Gorgeous tracking shot of the young suspected witch ending in a corridor with parallel columns (see pic)
  • Historical statement on hiding those on the run, hypocrisy and the repercussions on silence
  • The naked torture/confession scene is devastating—it’s an overwhelmingly bleak film
  • Lots of shadow work
  • It’s a very brief little montage but I like the sequence of the two young lovers playing in the fields. An idyllic moment
  • Gothic stark architecture
  • Ticking clock heard in the house as opposed to music quite often
  • A stunner of a shot in the boat as it moves up the river. Literally in the boat
  • Wind-whipping sound mix during climax
  • The young girl’s hair is always up until the climax seduction
  • This is complex- She does actually seem to hold some sort of spiritual or supernatural power. And Dreyer hints (at the very least) at this through editing
  • Reoccurring shot in wheat fields
  • Owes much to Hawthorne
  • 360 shot shows altar boys singing that haunting song
  • Dreyer lingers a beat and a half long on almost every shot—certainly intentional
  • Must-See top 5 of the year quality film