Somber, beautifully photographed tragedy regarding the rippling effect that plagues a priest after a witch is burned at the stake. Reverend Absalom(Thorkild Roose, whose face expresses such aching and longing)has recently wed a lovely, but cold, and much younger Anne(Lisbeth Moven, another actress strikingly filmed by Dreyer)who was actually the daughter of a witch. Absalon grants Anne's mother a reprieve from burning at the stake despite her confession of having the ability of bringing the dead back to life..in return he weds Anne despite the fact that she secretly loathes him. A condemned witch(Anna Svierkier)knows of the reprieve, expecting Absalon to grant her absolution from the burning stake as well. When Absalon doesn't, the witch curses him and the rest of the film follows his crisis of guilt and shame, as his recently returned son, Martin(Preben Neergaard)is "bewitched" by Anne. Absalon's mother, Merete(Sigrid Neiiendam)hates Anne(..one senses her disregard for possibly "bewitching" Absalon with her youth and beauty)and doesn't hide this, finding that her son is truly disturbed and distressed ever since the witch's death. While the film follows the blossoming love between Martin and Anne, we also see how Absalon deals with "robbing" his wife of her youth. We also see how guilt-stricken Martin is because of a love for his father's wife, and how Anne wishes for her husband's death so that she can marry the man she truly loves. An important sub-plot Absalon visiting a dying priest, Laurentius(Olaf Ussing), who was cursed to die by the witch shortly after torturing a confession from her.
I liked how director Carl Theodor Dreyer keeps the possibility of real witchcraft ambiguous. Does Anne or the condemned witch have supernatural powers or are these people so plagued with their own inner demons that pointing out others' sins gives them a sort of outlet or release? Anne can be pointed out in scorn by a majority for her affair with her husband's son, but does she actually bewitch Martin? Does her wishing for Absalon's death actually cause it to take place, or does a broken heart lead to his unfortunate demise? Does the witch actually curse Laurentius or Absalon, or were they doomed to their fates beforehand? The way I see it, this house was a repressed, joyless environment to begin with and Merete wouldn't have liked Anne no matter what. Absalon was, in simple terms, a mama's boy who she held close to her bosom. Anne was confined in an existence of regret and despair..she doesn't, or has ever, loved her husband, and Martin rides in sweeping her off her feet. Martin is her knight-in-shining-armor who can rescue her from this emotionless claustrophobia, a dream come true. But, the love they share will be unrequited..Anne and Martin are victims of fate and circumstance. The witch burnt at the stake merely provided an excuse to an already burdened Absalon, aware of his sins regarding Anne and her mother. I think Dreyer does a good job of displaying how right and wrong the budding romance of Anne and Martin is. I also felt he deftly handles the theme of guilt regarding Absalon and how he can not escape the situation he has created, blaming himself for Anne's unfortunate role of wife. I think he understands truthfully that their marriage wasn't built on love, only coming to terms with that fact at the very end of his life. Great, thought-provoking cinema..heart-breaking because watching such familial deterioration is never quite that easy. Neither is seeing characters boxed into such depressing circumstances, kept from truly experiencing joy. One might look at this film as a precursor to the "crisis of faith" films later directed by Ingmar Bergman.
I liked how director Carl Theodor Dreyer keeps the possibility of real witchcraft ambiguous. Does Anne or the condemned witch have supernatural powers or are these people so plagued with their own inner demons that pointing out others' sins gives them a sort of outlet or release? Anne can be pointed out in scorn by a majority for her affair with her husband's son, but does she actually bewitch Martin? Does her wishing for Absalon's death actually cause it to take place, or does a broken heart lead to his unfortunate demise? Does the witch actually curse Laurentius or Absalon, or were they doomed to their fates beforehand? The way I see it, this house was a repressed, joyless environment to begin with and Merete wouldn't have liked Anne no matter what. Absalon was, in simple terms, a mama's boy who she held close to her bosom. Anne was confined in an existence of regret and despair..she doesn't, or has ever, loved her husband, and Martin rides in sweeping her off her feet. Martin is her knight-in-shining-armor who can rescue her from this emotionless claustrophobia, a dream come true. But, the love they share will be unrequited..Anne and Martin are victims of fate and circumstance. The witch burnt at the stake merely provided an excuse to an already burdened Absalon, aware of his sins regarding Anne and her mother. I think Dreyer does a good job of displaying how right and wrong the budding romance of Anne and Martin is. I also felt he deftly handles the theme of guilt regarding Absalon and how he can not escape the situation he has created, blaming himself for Anne's unfortunate role of wife. I think he understands truthfully that their marriage wasn't built on love, only coming to terms with that fact at the very end of his life. Great, thought-provoking cinema..heart-breaking because watching such familial deterioration is never quite that easy. Neither is seeing characters boxed into such depressing circumstances, kept from truly experiencing joy. One might look at this film as a precursor to the "crisis of faith" films later directed by Ingmar Bergman.