Day of Wrath (Vredens Dag)(Day of Anger) (1943)

100% of critics liked it
(23 reviews)
91% of users liked it
(2,174 ratings)

Danish director Carl Theodor Dreyer's Day of Wrath (Vredens Dag) is set in 1623 Denmark, where Anne Pedersdotter (Lisbeth Movin), the second wife of a Danish pastor, grows to loathe her husband for his self-asceticism and instead falls in love with the minister's son - with whom she spends an… More Danish director Carl Theodor Dreyer's Day of Wrath (Vredens Dag) is set in 1623 Denmark, where Anne Pedersdotter (Lisbeth Movin), the second wife of a Danish pastor, grows to loathe her husband for his self-asceticism and instead falls in love with the minister's son - with whom she spends an inordinate amount of time. Locals overhear her wishing aloud for her husband's death; when he dies of a stroke not long after, she is accused of witchcraft, a charge taken seriously enough to be punishable by death. Eventually, the poor woman is tortured and traumatized to such a point that she actually believes she is a witch - and she gives in to being burned at the stake. Yet Dreyer then shifts the perspective from internalized - illustrating the woman's paralyzing fear - to externalized, a point of view that enables the director to depict his subject's spiritual purification. Even allowing for the aura of raw terror, Dreyer never loses sight of the eroticism inherent in the concept of witchcraft. Based on a play by Wiers Jensen, Day of Wrath was filmed during the Nazi occupation of Denmark and not released abroad until after the war, and the director reportedly had to flee his native country when he angered the government with the film's political content. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Rating, Runtime: Unrated, 1 hr. 37 min.
Directed By: Carl Theodor Dreyer
Genres: Drama, Romance, Classics

In Theaters: Aug 29, 2008 Wide
On DVD: Sep 9, 2008
Studio: Janus Films

Critic Reviews

Andrew Sarris, New York Observer
However bleak, Day of Wrath is a masterpiece. See it.
Andrew O'Hehir, Salon.com
I'd be saving a spot for it near the top of my 10-best list if the movie hadn't been made 65 years ago.
J. Hoberman, Village Voice
A stark, brooding treatment of adultery, incest, and murder, an elemental tragedy not so far from a James M. Cain triangle, albeit shot so as to deliberately evoke the Dutch masters.
Sara Cardace, New York Magazine
Danish director Carl Theodor Dreyer's 1943 masterpiece begins as a film about seventeenth-century witch hunts in Northern Europe, but it's really a psychological thriller about the pull of evil on weak souls.
Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader
Astonishing in its artistically informed period re-creation as well as its hypnotic mise en scene, it challenges the viewer by suggesting at times that witchcraft isn't so much an illusion as an activity produced by intolerance.
Donald J. Levit, ReelTalk Movie Reviews
This masterwork is as modern as Euripides, timeless as O'Neill and Arthur Miller, militant as Friedan or Steinem, and empathetically devastating as Hawthorne.
Kelly Vance, East Bay Express
Anne is a romantic trapped in a vengeful world. Thus, she's doomed.
Joshua Rothkopf, Time Out New York
A lesser Dreyer work, but only in comparison with his own achievements.
Urban Cinefile Critics, Urban Cinefile
Dryer's precision proves highly effective in creating the film's mood of dark oppression, and every detail is perfectly in keeping with the film's tone %u2013 which often resembles a thriller.
Jeffrey M. Anderson, Combustible Celluloid
Dreyer's fluid, softly moving camera that takes in long, slow shots heightens the sensual nature of the film as well as its mystery.
Dennis Schwartz, Ozus' World Movie Reviews
There couldn't be a clearer statement made about the powerful who persecute their subjects in the name of religion.
Peter Bradshaw, Guardian [UK]
Carl Theodor Dreyer's 1943 parable about witch-finding and witch-burning in 17th-century Denmark is coldly brilliant.

Read all 12 critic reviews

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Featured Audience Ratings

Drew S

A Dreyer film to the bone: technically innovative, critical of the dogmatic nature of Christianity, and brimming with fully-immersed, intelligent actors. I think Lisbeth Movin is a little bit unsubtle, but it might also be that she's portraying a woman so overwhelmed with new… More
A Dreyer film to the bone: technically innovative, critical of the dogmatic nature of Christianity, and brimming with fully-immersed, intelligent actors. I think Lisbeth Movin is a little bit unsubtle, but it might also be that she's portraying a woman so overwhelmed with new passion that she can't help but express it against her will. I love the way the movie is lit, and how it interacts dynamically with the characters' discussions of the "fire" in her eyes; she is a fascinating protagonist, repellent and sympathetic at the same time, and the language of the movie seems to reflect our constantly-shifting notions. What she is doing is wrong, but as the text unfurls to reveal a loveless marriage that she was essentially forced into, you cannot help but commend her for salvaging some bit of happiness. Fascinating work, if not totally groundbreaking in the grand scheme of Dreyer's oeuvre.
Cindy I

Another triumph by Carl Dreyer. A young woman marries a pastor quite a bit older than her. She meets his grown son, and they begin an affair. In the meantime, a neighbor woman who is accused of witchcraft asks the young woman to protect her from the authorities. This story of… More
Another triumph by Carl Dreyer. A young woman marries a pastor quite a bit older than her. She meets his grown son, and they begin an affair. In the meantime, a neighbor woman who is accused of witchcraft asks the young woman to protect her from the authorities. This story of hypocrisy, intolerance and betrayal should be on everyone's must-see list. However, if you're not familiar with Dreyer's work --- AND WHY AREN'T YOU?!? -- be prepared that it's slow going. But like all of Dreyer's films, it's well-worth the effort of a little patience.
Ken S

I know this is a masterpiece, but I just wasn't into it. It's sooo solemn and glum and metaphorical.
Walter M

[font=Century Gothic]"Day of Wrath" takes place in 1623 when Herlofs Marte(Anna Svierkier) is suspected of being a witch and that is just as good as being guilty and burned at the stake. At this point, the only thing the authorities are concerned with is the state of her… More
[font=Century Gothic]"Day of Wrath" takes place in 1623 when Herlofs Marte(Anna Svierkier) is suspected of being a witch and that is just as good as being guilty and burned at the stake. At this point, the only thing the authorities are concerned with is the state of her soul. So, she makes a break for it, ending up at the household of Anne(Lisbeth Movin), whose mother was herself denounced as a witch but was released on the testimony of the Reverend Absalon(Thorkild Roose), Anne's much, much older husband. In fact, his son, Martin(Preben Lerdorff Rye), is older than she is. Herlofs Marte is soon discovered and tells Absalon that if she burns, she won't be the only one...[/font] [font=Century Gothic][/font] [font=Century Gothic]It may be odd that 15 years after Carl Theodor Dreyer made "The Passion of Joan of Arc, " that he would return to similar territory with "Day of Wrath," which is a haunting movie about religious hypocrisy, the attitude towards women and the ignorance of the time period. Absalon did the right thing by letting Anne's mother go but it was so very wrong to covet her in the bargain. That event sets up the tragic circumstances of the movie, particularly the near incestuous relationship between Anne and Martin.[/font]