Day of Wrath

media release: Denmark | 1943 | 35mm | 97 min. | Danish with English subtitles

Director: Carl Theodor Dreyer

Cast: Thorkild Roose, Lisbeth Movin, Sigrid Neiiendam

Dreyer’s haunting allegory, made during Germany’s occupation of Denmark, is a tale of witch hunts set in a small village in 1623. Powerfully ambiguous, Dreyer uses black costumes, images of fire and death, and dark, moody cinematography to conjure up an unforgettably oppressive atmosphere, a world where persecuted people could easily convince themselves of being inspired by the Devil. “Day of Wrath illustrates how a film may fascinate us not by its clarity but by its obscurity, not by fixed certainties but by teasing questions” (David Bordwell).