Monday, May 12, 2008

MOVIE: ORDET



about: Ordet (The Word) is a 1955 Danish film, directed by Carl Theodor Dreyer. It is based on a play by Kaj Munk, a Danish pastor who was killed by German Nazis.

The film centers around a family of farmers, who are part of a god-fearing community. There are three brothers: Mikkel, who has no faith; Anders, who wants to marry the daughter of Peter, a tailor who refuses the marriage because of Anders' religious beliefs; the third brother is Johannes, who has seemingly lost his mind and believes himself to be Jesus.

Johannes is ridiculed for his belief, but his miracles allow him to heal the rift between the two different families. The final moments show Johannes using the miracle of resurrection.


my review: Ordet is a hard one to watch. Not because of what its about but because it moves very slow. Nothing much happens in the first hour of the film except to introduce us to the characters. I found myself nodding off about half way into it when my girlfriend, who was watching it with me, had the great idea of going to Dairy Queen to get some blizzards. So I paused the movie and 15 minutes later came back with an Oreo blizzard and ready to continue the movie.

When I pressed play, the characters actually left their house to go somewhere and I started to get interested. Then they started to have interesting conversations about religion and I started to become more interested. Then something happens and the film kept a hold of me until the end.

I don't know what it was but there was something about the movie, after the first hour, that made me keep watching. I don't know if it was the old man who was a really good actor, the guy who thought he was Jesus, the situation that was happening or just all of it. It was still moving at a slow pace but I didn't nod off once and my eyes were glued to the screen.

My girlfriend watched it to the end also but said she didn't like it and thought it was boring. I imagine most people who try to watch this film will think the same thing. But for me it was almost like the movie had a spell cast over me and I couldn't stop watching, even though it was slow and not much happens. Strange...



my rating:
6 out of 10


download "ordet" for free using bittorrent

buy "ordet" from lh digital for $24.25

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