Day of Wrath (1943)

Carl Theodor Dreyer's "Day of Wrath"

After the failure of his 1932 film, "Vampyr," Carl Theodor Dreyer spent the next ten years trying to figure out what to do next. He spent this time working as a journalist, unsuccessfully trying to adapt "Madame Bovary" into a film, a Mary Stuart film, and even a documentary. However, after the Nazis invaded and subsequently occupied Denmark in 1940, Dreyer went to work on a film that would depict the national temperament of this terrifying occupation.

To accurately capture the paranoia and fear by the Danish people in 1943, Dreyer adapted a 1909 play called "Anne Pederdotter" by Hans Weir-Jenssen. The play is based on a 16th century Norwegian case in which Anne, the protagonist, was accused of being a witch. Dreyer's film, "Day of Wrath," takes place in a Danish village in 1623 and begins with the accusation of an elderly woman, Marte, of witchcraft. She finds shelter from the mob at the church of Absalon Pedersson, whom just married the incredibly young Anne, after he protected her mother from accusations of witchcraft. After the death of Anne's mother, at the age of 14, Anne was subsequently married to pastor Absalon against her will. Anne hides Marte in the church until she is discovered by the mob. She is interrogated and tortured until she confesses to being a witch. At her burning, she curses her accusers and tells them they will be dead soon. After Marte's death, Anne begins to fall in love with her new stepson, Martin, who is the same age as her. Anne and Martin begin to have a relationship behind their father's back. However, the domineering mother of Absalon, Meret, does not approve of Anne and is the only one who suspects the inappropriate relationship. One night, Absalon is called to visit a dying pastor during a terrible storm. While he is there, Anne and Martin discuss their future, in which Anne is forced to admit that she wishes Absalon were dead. When Absalon returns, Anne confesses to him that she and Martin are in a relationship and tells him that she wishes he were dead. He then becomes excited and calls out for Martin, while collapsing and dying on the floor. At Absalon's funeral, Marte tells the court that she believes Anne is a witch who murdered her son. Martin decides to join his grandmother's accusation and turns his back on his lover. Anne then confesses to everyone that she is, in fact, a witch, murdered Absalon and enchanted his son with the help of the Devil.

Many of those in Denmark who saw the film in 1943 drew parallels between the torture and burning of the accused witch and the persecution of Jews by the Nazis during their occupation. This is perhaps the most significant element of the film. None of the women in the film are safe, for at any moment they could be subject to the accusation. The film begins with an accusation, torture, and burning. These sets of events permeate the rest of the film. Anyone who operates outside of the strict, authoritarian rule of the Catholic church immediately becomes a target. Because of this, as a viewer, you become scared for Anne. After all, her mother was accused of being a witch and on top of that, once Absalon finds out that she is sleeping with his son, it almost becomes inevitable. What is most interesting to note about Anne, however, is that she does not live in fear of this discovery. In fact, she seems to laugh in the face of her oppressor and embraces the notion of being a witch. At the beginning of the film, she is very timid and submissive. However, after Absalon confesses to her the account of her mother, she seems to find power in it. The power she draws from this notion allows her the emotional freedom to act against those who oppress her. It is almost as if she wasn't aware of anything outside of the power of the church before. But, once she becomes aware of her potential power in witchcraft, she begins to the notion that she actually has individualized power - power that goes beyond those of her oppressor. She seems to find self-liberation in the idea that the Catholic church, and her husband, are not the only power that exists. It seems to suggest that Dreyer is illustrating that we all have individualized power against the state, and all can act against the authoritarian powers that hold us.

Another element of the film that seems noteworthy is the constant presence of death. Dreyer is constantly reminding us that death is around the corner, for any character. We begin the film with the death of Marte. Death then comes for one of her accusers and then for Absalon himself. The howling winds of the night while Absalon is visiting his dying friend, the constant fear of accusation (and therein death) for Anne, and the constant ruminations by the various characters about their fates and futures. Death is a constant permutation in the film and seems to drive every character's behavior and actions. Absalon marries a young 14-year-old girl and becomes jealous of the relationship between her and his son. As an older man, he longs for youth due to his fear of death. Because she is constantly afraid of accusations, Anne seems to live life more in the moment, unafraid of consequences. Even Martin, once Anne is accused, cannot stand by her, as he is afraid of equaling her fate. Therefore, he turns his back on her out of fear of death. It seems as though death becomes such a tangible force in the film, that the characters can only behave on their fear of it.

Many who watched the film upon its release were unhappy with the film's slow pace. However, this is one of the main styles that Dreyer employs in all of his films. The slow pace allows for the film to breathe. Not only this, it creates the unease and paranoia necessary to derive anxiety. When the film was released in the US in 1948, Variety magazine noted that the film is "tedious to the extreme" and that its "chief trouble lies in gratingly plotting pace." The New York Times called it, "slow and monotonous." However, since then, many film historians consider the film a masterpiece. Critic Jonathan Rosenbaum wrote, "Day of Wrath may be the greatest film ever about living under totalitarian rule." Many have also noted how the film, as well as Dreyer's other 'slow' works, seemed to inspire the works of other filmmakers, like Ingmar Bergman. It also has drawn comparisons to Arthur Miller's masterpiece, "The Crucible." 

After the world premiere in Copenhagen in 1943, Dreyer fled Denmark and spent the rest of the war in Sweden. Through marketing his film, many were able to witness his masterwork. A perfect film for its time, "Day of Wrath" illustrates the fear and paranoia of those living under Nazi rule. The constant fear of persecution or stepping out of line and the notion of imminent death lurking around every corner created a palpable terror in the hearts of everyday European citizens in the early 1940s. This film can perfectly illustrates this terror. Its immaculate renderings of witch hunts, torture, terror, and most importantly slow-burning restless resentment allowed the film to tap into the collective consciousness of the world.