Ordet (The Word) (1955)

Featured Audience Ratings

• First L

  
  In a little danish farming community, the word of Jesus Christ is debated and preached between rival classes of townfolk. Although all are christian, the debate concerns who the "real" christians are and which are truly following the word of Jesus as it should be followed.… More
  In a little danish farming community, the word of Jesus Christ is debated and preached between rival classes of townfolk. Although all are christian, the debate concerns who the "real" christians are and which are truly following the word of Jesus as it should be followed. On one side of the feud is the Borgen farm, with it's elderly father of three sons, all of varying degrees of faith. Eldest son Mikkel is an agnostic whose pragmatic view of the world borders on blasphemy. Johannes, is opposite his brother, believing himself to be the lord Jesus reborn on earth (the youngest son, Anders, really only serves as means of connecting the feuding factions, in a manner similar to "Romeo and Juliet"). Away from the farm, in the village community, a new christian order has arisen where once there was none. Led by the town tailor's family, they celebrate the Christ of damnation and death. The lord of all the dead, the lord of the pious members of the community. There is a rivalry between the elder farmer and the tailor that might extend beyond just religion, as the tailor engages in a bit of class envy as well. While the farmer condemns the townsfolk for their "doom and gloom" christianity, his own faith seems to be only of the lip-service kind and hardly light-hearted and cheerful. He paces about, ringing his hands and cursing his bad luck in life, as he bades his children (well, the ones who aren't Jesus) to pray with him for blessings that never come. The family consider Johannes a burden, and none of them ever actually listen to the things he has to say. Johannes was studying theology until exposure to the philosopher Kierkegaard caused him to have a mental breakdown. What does all this add up to? As Johannes exclaims, these christians have so much faith in a dead christ, and the ancient word, but none know living Jesus nor apply his word to their lives (the following lyrics are quoted from one of the christian hymns: "none knoweth the day before the sun goeth down, Good morning good morning sings the bird on the bough, it saw the evening sun behind the prison wall, at dawn the flowers curtsied sweet-scented, by evening they lay crushed under a storm of hail, small children played often in the red glow of morning, by evening they lay on the coffin still and dead"- it's death they worship, not life). "Ordet" began its existence as a play written by a pastor who was condemned to death by the nazis. In the hands of filmmaker Carl Dreyer, it becomes not just a celebration of the living christ, but a celebration of life in general. Life and spiritualism and the notion that the two go hand-in-hand. Closing our eyes and ears to the life that goes on around us, to our family and friends, forsaking these moments so that we might honor ancient words in some brittle text, is not the way to spiritual enlightenment, nor should it be. What one loves in Christ, one must also find in the eyes of a child, or in the warmth of family. We were not put on this earth to celebrate death and sadness.

• Cindy I

  
  Could very well be the saddest movie I've ever seen, but at the same time uplifting and inspiring. Like most Carl Dreyer films it takes a while to get to the point, but the trip is so worth it. The film is beautifully shot, with slow fluid camera movement that totally sucks you… More
  Could very well be the saddest movie I've ever seen, but at the same time uplifting and inspiring. Like most Carl Dreyer films it takes a while to get to the point, but the trip is so worth it. The film is beautifully shot, with slow fluid camera movement that totally sucks you in. And like most of Dreyer's films, the performances are amazing. Dreyer had a way of getting strong, emotionally honest portrayals out of his cast. Every touch, every tear, every smile, every display of love, anger or grief, feels completely real. The tragic events -- as well as the joyous ones -- left me reeling emotionally. I've seen it twice now (6 years apart), and my reaction was exactly the same both times -- I wept uncontrollably. This film is that powerful. This film, along with Dreyer's equally devastating PASSION OFJOAN OF ARC, is proof that Carl T. Dreyer was a genius.

• Drew S

  
  A broad, deep, challenging film, but my least favorite of Dreyer's works that I've seen thus far. I thought it was poorly paced and long-winded. The parts are there, but the composition is all wrong.

• Pierluigi P

  
  An outstading piece of filmmaking. A religious experience, regardless of whether I believe in god or not, I was deeply moved by the story. It put me in contact with my spirituality, or the lack of it, feeding my urge, wish or impulse to never be indifferent to my issues, concerns,… More
  An outstading piece of filmmaking. A religious experience, regardless of whether I believe in god or not, I was deeply moved by the story. It put me in contact with my spirituality, or the lack of it, feeding my urge, wish or impulse to never be indifferent to my issues, concerns, life in general and the people who make part of it.

• Christopher M

  
  Ordet is a film, based on a 1925 play, about the power of faith when all else fails. It's about a Danish family on a farm, their clashes in faith with another sect in their own, and what happens when a family member falls ill during childbirth. Being a person completely lacking… More
  Ordet is a film, based on a 1925 play, about the power of faith when all else fails. It's about a Danish family on a farm, their clashes in faith with another sect in their own, and what happens when a family member falls ill during childbirth. Being a person completely lacking in faith myself, I took in this film with a sort of outsider's perspective. Be that as it may, I found it to be deeply moving and genuine, and though it's steeped in theological discussion and crises, it doesn't get too heavy handed, nor does it talk down to the viewer. It's an allegorical story about each person coming to terms with their own faith, which is filmed (beautifully) just like a stage-play for the most part, and well acted and adapted. Definite must-see.

• Eric B

  
  Sorry, but "Ordet" was a bit too much for me. Dour, shellshocked people having slow, murmured conversation while gazing miserably into the distance...this is the sort of stereotypical action which bigoted Americans imagine when they ridicule foreign films. Myself, I kept… More
  Sorry, but "Ordet" was a bit too much for me. Dour, shellshocked people having slow, murmured conversation while gazing miserably into the distance...this is the sort of stereotypical action which bigoted Americans imagine when they ridicule foreign films. Myself, I kept recalling parody dialogue from Woody Allen's "Love and Death." "Wheat...lots of wheat...fields of wheat...a tremendous amount of wheat...." Truth be told, I'm not likely to connect with a film so wholly focused on the issue of religious faith either. I did think "The Passion of Joan of Arc" was fantastic, however.

• Walter M

  
  In "Ordet," things are definitely busy at the Borgen farm in 1925. For starters, Mikkel(Emil Hass Christensen) and Inger(Birgitte Federspiel) are expecting their third child, hopefully a son this time. And Anders(Cay Kristiansen) has his eyes set on Anne(Gerda Nielsen),… More
  In "Ordet," things are definitely busy at the Borgen farm in 1925. For starters, Mikkel(Emil Hass Christensen) and Inger(Birgitte Federspiel) are expecting their third child, hopefully a son this time. And Anders(Cay Kristiansen) has his eyes set on Anne(Gerda Nielsen), the daughter of Peter(Ejner Federspiel), the tailor. The only thing holding up the nuptials is that Peter feels that the beliefs of Morten Borgen(Henrik Malberg), the family patriarch, so differ from his that he refuses on the spot. While Morten has grown impatient waiting for the new pastor(Ove Rud) to pay his respects, he goes to have a few words with Peter. And his third son Johannes(Preben Lerdorff Rye) is barking mad... "Ordet" is a stark drama about religious intolerance with a particularly excruciating climax. The exact religious beliefs are not stated but one could guess that we are only talking about slightly different Protestant sects.(Both Peter and Morten have framed pictures in their homes which might provide clues along these lines.) And it does remind me of a much more recent movie which I prefer since "Ordet" does feel too much like a religious debate at times, leaving little unsaid.

• Tom S

  
  The ending was too easy.

• Alice S

  
  The entire film is done beautifully and captures delicately life with its little unnoticed miracles. Unfortunately, the end distracts us from those and ruins the balance. Of course, such a miracle might be possible, and perhaps the filmmaker considers it justified in the light of the… More
  The entire film is done beautifully and captures delicately life with its little unnoticed miracles. Unfortunately, the end distracts us from those and ruins the balance. Of course, such a miracle might be possible, and perhaps the filmmaker considers it justified in the light of the characters' converting, but it doesn't seem necessary to me, as it doesn't seem appropriate to despise death itself's ability to cause miracles.

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