Carl Theodore Dreyer

PFA had a program featuring the works of celebrated Danish director Carl Theodore Dreyer. The retrospective ran from November 5 to December 12. The centerpiece was The Passion of Joan of Arc at the Paramount Theater in Oakland. All the other films in the series screened at the PFA in Berkeley.

I ended up only seeing three films in the Dreyer series. I wanted to see more films from the series but the Chinese American Film Festival and Third I conflicted with several of the screening.

Day of Wrath; directed by Dreyer; Danish with subtitles; (1943)
Two People; directed by Dreyer; Swedish with subtitles; (1944/45)
The Passion of Joan of Arc starring Maria Falconetti; directed by Dreyer; silent with intertitles; with live accompaniment; (1928)

Two People was preceded by a 12 minute short film called They Caught the Ferry (1948). They Caught the Ferry was directed by Dreyer and was in Danish with subtitles. It was about a young couple on motorcycle who race through the countryside at speeds which ultimately too fast for their safety.

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The first thing I notice when reading the synopsis of Day of Wrath is that its release date (1943) falls within the period that Denmark was occupied by the Nazis. A little bit of research reveals the Danes had a relatively cooperative relationship with the Nazis until 1943 when acts of sabotage increased and Germany dissolved the Danish government. At that point, many Danish Jews and naval officers took refuge in neutral Sweden. Coincdentally, that's where Dreyer's Two People was filmed in 1944. There is probably an interesting story to his career during WWII.

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Day of Wrath covers familiar territory. An older widower marries a younger woman. The man's adult son arrives at their house for a visit. His wife and son proceed to become "acquainted." I've seen that plot adapted to Westerns, noirs and now a literal witchhunt film. There are a few twists to the plot such as the husband being witchhunter who spared his wife's mother at trial to bolster his chances to gain her hand in marriage. Day of Wrath balances the melodramatic aspects of the film with the political. The atmosphere of fear, repression and mass anxiety was as relevant in 1623 Denmark as 1943 Denmark. Instead being accused of being a witch, one was accussed of harboring Jews or collaborating with the enemy.

I enjoyed Day of Wrath. It was a little overwrought at times. I couldn't help but think that Dreyer had more masterfully covered some of this same material in The Passion of Joan of Arc.

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Two People was an interesting experiment although a failed one. Dreyer had the idea of making a film using only two actors. In this case, the two people are a husband and wife; there is also an affair, a missing glove, poison, etc. The film feels like a Agathie Christy story on stage due to the limited sets (one set location, I believe). More importantly, Dreyer could not get the two actors he wanted for the roles. According to the PFA notes, Two People ran for five days before it was withdrawn from theaters, and Dreyer refused to let it be screened during his lifetime; it remains one of the director’s rarest works. Other sources use the term "disown" when referring to Dreyer and Two People.

I think the key was in the casting or lack thereof. Actors Georg Rydeberg and Wanda Rothgarth couldn't keep me interested in the story for the modest runtime of 74 minutes. In short order, I became apathetic to the mystery being presented. Although the wooden performances didn't help, I believe the plot was enough to support even 74 minutes on screen. Perhaps that's why Dreyer disowned the film and it is so rarely screened.

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With this entry I have completed documenting all the films I've seen in 2010.

The Passion of Joan of Arc

In November 2008, I saw The Passion of Joan of Arc. I recall the event well. The theater was near sellout. I had to sit in the front of the theater. I was one row behind the choral singers. There was an orchestra and a hundred or so choral singers. They took up the the first three or four rows of the theater. They performed Richard Einhorn's Voices of Light which was specifically composed to accompany The Passion of Joan of Arc. I cannot recall which organization the singers were from.

They had a program handout which was very informative. The front page gave some background on Einhorn and his composition. The other side talked about the history of the film. The Passion of Joan of Arc was thought to be a lost film. The original version was thought lost when a fire destroyed the master negative. Director Carl Theodore Dreyer reassembled the film from outtakes. This was the only extant version until the early 1980s when a copy of the original version was found in a Danish mental assylum.

At the time, I was very impressed with the film and score even though I didn't write about it. That has more to do with time constraints than enthusiasm.

On December 2, the San Francisco Silent Film Festival partnered with the PFA to present The Passion of Joan of Arc at the Paramount Theater in Oakland. The live accompaniment was conducted by Mark Sumner, performed by the women of UC Berkeley’s Perfect Fifth as the voice of Joan of Arc, tenor soloist Daniel Ebbers, baritone Martin Bell, the University of California Alumni Chorus, UC Men’s and Women’s Chorales, and a twenty-two piece orchestra.

The Passion of Joan of Arc starring Maria Falconetti; directed by Carl Theodore Dreyer; silent with intertitles; with live accompaniment; (1928)

Let me start by saying that I think the Paramount is the most elegant theater I've been in. Built in 1931, the Paramount was designed by Timothy Pflueger who also designed the Castro Theater in San Francisco (built in 1922). Whereas the Castro has a Spanish Baroque theme, the Paramount is Art Deco which is more to my personal taste. The Paramount also has a larger seating capacity than the Castro so the interior is more imposing. The Paramount was completely rennovated in early 1970s so the interior is more modern than the Castro which has been in continuous use since its opening. The Paramount doesn't have daily events so it gets a lot less wear and tear than the Castro.

The Passion of Joan of Arc is universally acknowledged as one of the most influential films of all time. The plot condenses the trial of Joan of Arc into a 90 minute film. The film looks unique today but must have been particularly revolutionary in 1928. The first thing I noticed were the extreme close-ups. Dreyer had the actors who played Joan inquistors not wear make-up so you see the flaws in the complexion and craggy faces. Sergio Leone would use the same technique to great effect in his Spaghetti Westerns. I remember reading that Oliver Stone used the same trick when shooting JFK. In The Passion of Joan of Arc, the close-ups and lack of make-up give the actors a grotesque and ominous appearance to match their actions.

In addition, Dreyer frequently filmed Joan of Arc (played by Maria Falconetti) from a down camera angle to convey to the audience the submissive position she was in. Dreyer would force Falconetti to kneel for hours on hard stone floors until her knees ached and she was exhausted. Through this "proto-method" acting device, Falconetti physical anguish and fatigue showed in her portrayal of Joan.

The film had a noticeable dearth of establishing shots and long shots. Combined with the sparse sets, the effect was to give the film an austere look which focused the audience's attention on the actor's faces. The ordeal of Joan's scourging was made more personal that way. The title not only refers to Joan's inner passions to serve God and defeat the British but also call to mind the Passion plays depicting Christ's final days.

Everyone raves about Falconetti's performance and rightly so. Her eyes convey fear and confusion as well as anything I recall seeing on celluloid. However, Falconetti needed someone to play against. This was the true inspiration on Dreyer's part. The actors cast as Joan's judges and prison guards were outstanding in conveying their malevolence and contempt. There weren't any scenes to establish the character's names so I cannot single out any of the credited actors. That's just as well since all their performances were worthy of praise.

In 2008, I was most impressed by Einhorn's score. It had sufficient gravitas for the trial of Joan of Arc. Slightly evocative of Carmina Burana, Voices of Light was less robust than the Gregorian chants. It perfectly conveyed the inner turmoil of Joan. At the Paramount performance, Voices of Light was still effective but not quite as impressive as before. Perhaps it was due to having heard the performance before.

I'm glad to report that The Passion of Joan of Arc stood up well to a second screening. I wonder how the film would fare with an alternate score.

Vampires at YBCA

In August, the YBCA had a vampire series.

I caught two of the three films in the series.

Near Dark starring Adrian Pasdar, Jenny Wright and Lance Henriksen; with Bill Paxton; directed by Kathryn Bigelow; (1987)
Vampyr directed by Carl Theodore Dreyer; German with subtitles; (1932)

Originally, the third film in the series was going to be Daughters of Darkness, a well known 1971 film which focuses on the more erotic aspects of the vampire myth. The print was damaged so the film was replaced by Vampire Hookers, a 1978 Filipino production starring John Carradine. I decided to pass.

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Near Dark has achieved cult status since its release. Although Kathryn Bigelow (The Hurt Locker) did not marry James Cameron until two years after the film was released, the casting seemed like a reunion of Cameron's stock company of actors from the 1980s. The film co-starred Lance Henriksen, Bill Paxton and Jenette Goldstein who appeared in Cameron's Aliens (1986). Henriksen also appeared in Cameron's The Terminator (1984).

Near Dark stars Adrian Pasdar as an Oklahoma cowboy who is bitten by vampire Jenny Wright. Adrian Pasdar looked so young in the film. He was 23 at the time. I'm only familiar with Pasdar's work in the television series Judging Amy which was 16 years later. The difference in appearance is amazing. If I hadn't had known it was Pasdar, I don't think I would have recognized him.

The film mixes genres which probably led to its cult status. Ostensibly a vampire film, most of the action takes place in present day, small-time Oklahoma and Texas. The characters were described as rockabilly in the program notes. I thought they were closer to PWT. The main appeal of the film is intense performances by Henriksen as the leader of the vampire group, Jenette Goldstein as his jealous lover, Bill Paxton as the sadistic vampire and 12 year old Joshua John Miller as the most cold-blooded vampire of them all. Miller's performance could have served as inspiration for Kirsten Dunst in Interview with the Vampire (1994).

By contrast, vampire Jenny Wright is almost normal. Certainly she is the least blood thirsty of the vampires with the exception of newbie Pasdar who cannot overcome his disgust and confusion as to what is happening to him.

Most of the film is filled with the existential angst of the vampires, particularly Wright and Pasdar who resist their nocturnal urges to varying degrees. Eventually, Pasdar's sister becomes the intended victim and he casts his lot with his human family. What follows is some old-school sunlight-on-vampire-skin fu as Joe Bob would put it. In this telling of the tale, vampire skins burns black when exposed to direct sunlight. Prolonged exposure causes them to explode.

The film was entertaining. The interplay between Wright and Pasdar took a backseat to the antics of the vampires. A massacre scene in a bar stays in one's memory as does their escape from the police in broad daylight.

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Vampyr was directed by Danish director Carl Theodore Dreyer. His film prior to Vampyr was the classic The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928). The Passion of Joan of Arc with the iconic images of Maria Falconetti as Joan and the grotesque faces of her judges, is surely one of the greatest films ever made. Vampyr didn't live up to expectations, at least mine. I found the film ponderous and dozed off for a bit. The actual vampire elements of the film are ambiguous which leads to more implied horror than on-screen menacing. Dreyer's film is nothing like F.W. Murnau's Nosferatu which I was perhaps subconsciously expecting and comparing against. Some of the imagery is interesting. I particularly liked the drowning of the vampire's assistant in a grain silo or similar structure. The opening scene featured a man in silhouette with a extremely large scythe. Apparently Dreyer filmed with a guaze three feet in front of the camera to achieve the washed-out or dreamy appearance which characterizes the film.