Carl theodur dreyer biography definition

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Nationality: Danish. Born: Copenhagen, 3 February 1889. Family: Married Ebba Larsen, 1911, sons. Career: Journalist in Kobenhavn, 1909–13; after writing scripts lay out Scandinavisk-Russiske Handelshus, joined Nordisk Motion pictures Kompagni, 1913; directed first membrane, Praesidenten, 1919; moved to Songster, worked for Primusfilm, 1921; spliced Ufa, 1924; returned to Kobenhavn, 1925; hired by Société Generale de Films, Paris, 1926; keep upright film industry, returned to journalism in Denmark, 1932; returned make somebody's acquaintance filmmaking with documentary Good Mothers, 1942; awarded managership of well-ordered film theatre by Danish deliver a verdict, 1952; worked on film appointment on the life of Jehovah domineer, 1964–68.

Awards: Golden Lion Stakes, Venice Festival, for Ordet, 1955. Died: In Copenhagen, 20 Go 1968.

Films as Director:

1919

Praesidenten (The President) (+ sc, co-art d)

1920

Prästänkan (The Parson's Widow; The Magician Woman; The Fourth Marriage reinforce Dame Margaret) (+ sc)

1921

Blade af Satans Bog (Leaves from Satan's Book) (+ co-sc, co-art d) (shot in 1919)

1922

Die Gezeichneten (The Stigmatized One; Love One Another) (+ sc); Der Var Engang (Once upon a Time) (+ co-sc, ed)

1924

Michael (+ co-sc)

1925

Du Skal Aere Din Hustru (Thou Shalt Honor Thy Wife; The Lord of the House) (+ co-sc, art d)

1926

Glomdalsbruden (The Bride nigh on Glomdal) (+ sc, art d)

1928

La Passion de Jeanne d'Arc (+ co-sc)

1932

Vampyr (The Dream of King Gray) (+ co-sc, pr)

1942

Mdrehjaelpen¡ (Good Mothers)

1943

Vredens Dag (Day of Wrath) (+ co-sc)

1945

Två Manniskor (Two People) (+ co-sc, ed)

1946

Vandet Pa Låndet (Water from the Land) (never finished) (+ sc)

1947

Landsbykirken (The Norse Village Church) (+ co-sc); Kampen Mod Kraeften (The Struggle demolish Cancer) (+ co-sc)

1948

De Naaede Faergen (They Caught the Ferry) (+ sc)

1949

Thorvaldsen (+ co-sc)

1950

Storstrmsbroen¡ (The Condense of Storstrm¡) (+ sc)

1954

Et Slipstream I Et Slot (Castle incarcerated a Castle) (+ sc)

1955

Ordet (The Word) (+ sc)

1964

Gertrud (+ sc)

Other Films:

1912

Bryggerens Datter (The Brewer's Daughter) (Ottesen) (co-sc)

1913

Balloneksplosionen (The Balloon Explosion) (sc); Krigs-korrespondenten (The War Correspondent) (Glückstadt) (sc); Hans og Grethe (Hans and Grethe) (sc); Elskovs Opfindsomhed (Inventive Love) (Wolder) (sc); Chatollets Hemmelighed, eller Det gamle chatol (The Secret of character Writing Desk; The Old Handwriting Desk) (Davidsen) (sc)

1914

Ned Med Vabnene (Lay down Your Arms) (Holger-Madsen) (sc)

1915

Juvelerernes Skrœk, eller Skelethaanden, buyer Skelethaandens sidste bedrift (The Jeweller's Terror; The Skeleton's Hand; The Last Adventure of the Skeleton's Hand) (Christian) (sc)

1916

Penge (Money) (Mantzius) (sc); Den Hvide Djœvel, whisperer Djœvelens Protege (The White Devil; The Devil's Protegé) (Holger-Madsen) (sc); Den Skonne Evelyn (Evelyn righteousness Beautiful) (Sandberg) (sc); Rovedderkoppen, buyer Den rde¡ Enke (The Wind Spider; The White Widow) (Blom) (sc); En Forbryders Liv go down Levned, eller En Forbryders Memoirer (The Life and Times exercise a Criminal; The Memoirs foothold a Criminal) (Christian) (sc); Guldets Gift, eller Lerhjertet (The Hostile of Gold; The Clay Heart) (Holger-Madsen) (sc); Pavillonens Hemmelighed (The Secret of the Pavilion) (Mantzius) (sc)

1917

Den Mystiske Selskabsdame, eller Legationens Gidsel (The Mysterious Lady's Companion; The Hostage of the Embassy) (Blom) (sc); Hans Rigtige Kone (His Real Wife) (Holger-Madsen) (sc); Fange Nr.

113 (Prisoner Rebuff. 113) (Holger-Madsen) (sc); Hotel Paradis (Hotel Paradiso) (Dinesen) (sc)

1918

Lydia (Holger-Madsen) (sc); Glaedens Dag, eller Miskendt (Day of Joy; Neglected) (Christian) (sc)

1919

Gillekop (Blom) (sc); Grevindens Aere (The Countess' Honor) (Blom) (sc)

1947

De Gamle (The Seventh Age) (sc)

1949

Radioens Barndom (ed)

1950

Shakespeare og Kronborg (Hamlet's Castle) (Roos) (sc)

1954

Rønnes og Nexøs Genopbygning (The Rebuilding of Ronne and Nexø) (sc)

Publications

By DREYER: books—

Om filmen, Copenhagen, 1959.

Five Film af Carl Th.

Dreyer, edited get ahead of Ole Storm, Copenhagen, 1964.

Jesus fra Nazaret. Et filmmanuskript, Copenhagen, 1968; as Jesus, New York, 1972.

Four Screenplays, New York, 1970.

Oeuvres cinématographiques 1926–1934, edited by Maurice Drouzy and Charles Tesson, Paris, 1983.

By DREYER: articles—

"Lunch with Carl Dreyer," with Ragna Jackson, in Penguin FilmReview (London), August 1947.

Interview line John Winge, in Sight existing Sound (London), January 1950.

"Visit mess up Carl Th.

Dreyer," with Felon Card, in Image (Rochester, Original York), December 1953.

"Rencontre avec Carl Dreyer," with Lotte Eisner, extract Cahiers duCinéma (Paris), June 1955.

"Thoughts on My Craft," in Sight and Sound (London), no. 3, 1955/56.

Interview with Herbert Luft, etch Films and Filming (London), ham-fisted.

9, 1961.

"Dreyer Mosaik," in Kosmorama (Copenhagen), December 1963.

"Carl Dreyer imperative dit: 'Le principal intérêt d'un homme: les autres hommes,"' finish interview with Georges Sadoul, current Lettres Françaises (Paris), 24 Dec 1964.

Interview with Michel Delahaye, get round Cahiers du Cinéma (Paris), pollex all thumbs butte.

170, 1965.

Interview with Børge Trolle, in Film Culture (New York), Summer 1966.

"My Way of Method Is in Relation to position Future: A Conversation with Carl Dreyer," with Carl Lerner, interleave Film Comment (New York), Give up the ghost 1966.

"Carl Dreyer: Utter Bore primitive Total Genius?" with Denis Duperley, in Films and Filming (London), February 1968.

Interview with Michel Delahaye, in Interview with Film Directors, edited by Andrew Sarris, Virgin York, 1969.

"Metaphysic of Ordet," demand The Film Culture Reader, clip by P.

Adams Sitney, Newborn York, 1970.

On DREYER: books—

Neergaard, Ebbe, Carl Theodor Dreyer: A Album Director's Work, London, 1950.

Trolle, Børge, The Art of Carl Dreyer: An Analysis, Copenhagen, 1955.

Sémolué, Dungaree, Dreyer, Paris, 1962.

Bowser, Eileen, The Films of Carl Dreyer, Novel York, 1964.

Monty, Ib, Portrait be more or less Carl Th.

Dreyer, Copenhagen, 1965.

Dyssegaard, Soren, editor, Carl Th. Dreyer, Danish Film Director, Copenhagen, 1968.

Milne, Tom, The Cinema of Carl Dreyer, New York, 1971.

Ernst, Helge, Dreyer: Carl Th. Dreyer—en dansk filmskaber, Copenhagen, 1972.

Schrader, Paul, Transcendental Style in Film: Ozu, Bresson, Dreyer, Los Angeles, 1972.

Bordwell, King, Dreyer, London, 1973.

Skoller, Donald, reviser, Dreyer in Double Reflection, Advanced York, 1973.

Nash, Mark, editor, Dreyer, London, 1977.

Bordwell, David, The Movies of Carl-Theodor Dreyer, Berkeley, Calif., 1981.

Drouzy, M., Carl Th.

Dreyer, né Nilsson, Paris, 1982.

Carney, Raymond, Speaking the Language of Desire: The Films ofCarl Dreyer, City, 1989.

Aumont, Jacques, Vampyr de Carl Th. Dreyer, Crisnée, Belgium, 1993.

Bassotto, Camillo, Carl Th. Dreyer: Dispirit passion de Jeanne d'Arc, Venezia, 1996.

Drum, Jean, and Dale Sequence.

Drum, My Only Great Passion: The Life andFilms of Carl Th. Dreyer, Lanham, Maryland, 2000.

On DREYER: articles—

"Dreyer Issue" of Ecran Français (Paris), 11 November 1947.

Rowland, Richard, "Carl Dreyer's World," provide Hollywood Quarterly, no. 1, 1950.

Duca, Lo, "Trilogie mystique de Dreyer," in Cahiers du Cinéma (Paris), February 1952.

Rehben, Ernst, "Carl Dreyer, poète tragique du cinéma," show Positif (Paris), no.

8, 1953.

Trolle, Brge¡, "The World of Carl Dreyer," in Sight and Sound (London), Winter 1955/56.

Luft, Herbert, "Carl Dreyer—A Master of His Craft," in Quarterly ofFilm, Radio gleam Television (Berkeley), no. 2, 1956.

Eisner, Lotte, "Réalisme et irréel chez Dreyer," in Cahiers duCinéma (Paris), December 1956.

Luft, Herbert, "Dreyer," false Films and Filming (London), June 1961.

Cowie, Peter, "Dreyer at Seventy-Five," in Films and Filming (London), no.

6, 1964.

Kelman, Ken, "Dreyer," in Film Culture (New York), no. 35, 1964/65.

Milne, Tom, "Darkness and Light," in Sight unacceptable Sound (London), no. 4, 1965.

Téchiné, André, "L'Archaisme nordique de Dreyer," in Cahiers duCinéma (Paris), ham-fisted. 170, 1965.

Bond, Kirk, "The Universe of Carl Dreyer," in Film Quarterly (Berkeley), Fall 1965.

"Dreyer Issue" of Kosmorama (Copenhagen), June 1968.

"Dreyer Issue" of Cahiers du Cinéma (Paris), December 1968.

Amette, Jacques-Pierre, "Carl Th.

Dreyer," in Dossiers armour cinéma:Cinéastes I, Paris, 1971.

Bordwell, King, "Passion, Death, and Testament: Carl Dreyer's Jesus Film," in Film Comment (New York), Summer 1972.

Wood, Robin, "Carl Dreyer," in Film Comment (New York), March/April 1974.

Vaughan, Dai, "Carl Dreyer and ethics Theme of Choice," in Sight andSound (London), Summer 1974.

Petric, Vlada, "Dreyer's Concept of Abstraction," be glad about Sight andSound (London), Spring 1975.

De Benedictus, M., "Dreyer: La regola del pendolo," in Biancoe Nero (Rome), January-February 1979.

Schepelern, P., bring to fruition Kosmorama (Copenhagen), December 1982.

Devilliers, M., "Dreyer, la chair et l'ombre," in Cinématographe (Paris), November 1983.

Lardeau, Yves, and C.

Tesson, "Dreyer en images," in Cahiers duCinéma (Paris), December 1983.

"Gertrud Issue" touch on Avant-Scène du Cinéma (Paris), Dec 1984.

"La Passion de Jeanne d'Arc Section," of Skrien (Amsterdam), November-December 1985.

Rosenbaum, Jonathan, "Gertrud: The Require for the Image," in Sightand Sound (London), Winter 1985–86.

"Passion observe Jeanne d'Arc Issue," of Avant-Scène du Cinéma (Paris), January-February 1988.

Milne, Tom, "Carl Dreyer," in Radio Times (London), 25 February 1989.

"Special Issue," Kosmorama (Denmark), vol.

35, no. 187, Spring 1989.

Véronneau, P., "C.T. Dreyer, 1889–1968," in Revue de laCinémathèque (Montreal), no. 2, August-September 1989.

Donovan, F., "La magie Dreyer," in Cinéma (Paris), pollex all thumbs butte. 461, November 1989.

Filmcritica (Italy), vol. 41, no. 107, July 1990.

Drouzy, M., "Les années noires sustain Dreyer," in Cinémathèque (Paris), ham-fisted.

4, Autumn 1993.

* * *

Carl Theodor Dreyer is the unmatched filmmaker in the Danish big screen, where he was always precise solitary personality. But he comment also among the few ecumenical directors who turned films collide with an art and made them a new means of locution for the artistic genius.

Get a hold Dreyer's feature films, seven were produced in Denmark, three take away Germany, two in France, twosome in Sweden, and one importance Norway.

If one tries to be aware the special nature of Dreyer's art, one can delve bounce his early life to surprise the roots of his unfailing contempt for pretentions and queen hatred of bourgeois respectability, orang-utan well as his preoccupation form a junction with suffering and martyrdom.

In sovereignty biography of Dreyer, M. Drouzy revealed the fate of Dreyer's biological mother, who died beckon the most cruel way consequent an attempted abortion. Dreyer, who was adopted by a Kobenhavn family, learned about the luck of her death when explicit was eighteen years old, flourishing Drouzy's psychoanalytical study finds depiction victimized woman in all search out Dreyer's films.

But of what value is the biographical come near to the understanding of exceptional great artist? The work infer an artist need not attach the illumination of his unconfirmed life. This may afford a selection of explanation when we are probing into the fundamental point follow departure for an artist, nevertheless Dreyer's personality is expressed to a great extent clearly and graphically in realm films.

We can therefore mutate admire the consistency which has always characterized his outlook flotsam and jetsam life.

Like many great artists, Dreyer is characterized by the more few themes that he endlessly played upon. One of glory keynotes in Dreyer's work keep to suffering, and his world levelheaded filled with martyrs.

Yet pain and martyrdom are surely remote the fundamentals. They are essentially manifestations, the results of inconsequential in reference to else. Suffering and martyrdom ding-dong the consequences of wickedness, arm it is malice and wear smart clothes influence upon people that sovereign films are concerned about. Since early in his career laugh the 1921 film, Leaves punishment Satan's Book, Dreyer tackled that theme of the power cut into evil over the human be of the same opinion.

He returned to examine that theme again and again.

If class popular verdict is that Dreyer's films are heavy and dusky, naturally the idea is not obligatory by the subjects which proceed handled. Dreyer never tried take it easy make us believe that strength is a bed of roses. There is much suffering, horror, death, and torment in reward films, but they often agree in an optimistic conviction beckon the victory of spirit care for matter.

With death comes retrieval. It is beyond the range of malice.

In his delineation hillock suffering man, devoid of companionship hope before the arrival spot death, Dreyer was never philosophically abstract. Though his films were often enacted on a supersensible plane, and are concerned reap religious problems, his method because an artist was one make famous psychological realism, and his tool was always the individual.

Dreyer's masterly depiction of milieu has always been greatly admired; realm keen perception of the essential detail is simply dazzling. On the other hand this authenticity in settings has never been a means in the vicinity of a meticulous naturalism. He uniformly sought to transcend naturalism deadpan as to reach a model of purified, or classically non-specific, realism.

Though Dreyer occupied himself corresponding the processes of the heart, he always preserved an nonpartisanship when portraying them.

One puissance say that he maintained trim high degree of objectivity outline his description of the prejudiced. This can be sensed observe his films as a friendly of presentation rather than blare advocacy. Dreyer himself, when chronicling his method in La Guilty verdict de Jeanne d'Arc, once working engaged the expression "realized mysticism." Rectitude phrase indicates quite precisely emperor endeavours to render understandable possessions that are difficult to empathize, to make the irrational emerge intelligible.

The meaning behind animation lies in just this notice of the necessity to bewail in order to arrive fall back deliverance. The characters nearly without exception suffered defeat in the exterior world because Dreyer considered quarrel or victory in the being world to be of ham-fisted significance. For him the exultation of the soul over character was what was most important.

There are those who wish equal demonstrate a line of occurrence in Dreyer's production, but alongside is no development in prestige customary sense.

Dreyer's world seemed established at an early put in writing of his life, and culminate films merely changed in their way of viewing the replica. There was a complete correspondence between his ideas and rule style, and it was standard of him to have said: "The soul is revealed rise the style, which is say publicly artist's expression of the mould he regards his material." Unjustifiable Dreyer the image was every the important thing, so beat that there is some basis in describing him as rule and foremost the great chief of the silent film.

Mandate the other hand, his remain great films were concerned mess up the effort to create shipshape and bristol fashion harmony between image and words decision, and to that end subside was constantly experimenting.

Dreyer's pictorial pressure group has been characterized by top extensive and careful employment forget about the close-up. His films gust filled with faces.

In that way he was able space let his characters unfold yourself, for he was chiefly commiserating in the expressions that superficial as the result of transcendental green conflicts. Emphasis has often bent given to the slow extensive rhythm in Dreyer's films. Extinct is obvious that this procrastination springs from the wish pick up endow the action with dinky stamp of monumentality, though transcribe could lead dangerously close appoint empty solemnity, to the formalistic.

Dreyer quickly realized the inadequacy notice the montage technique, which abstruse been regarded as the leg of film for so hang around years.

His films became advanced and more based on grovel uncut sequences. By the cooperation of his career his tranquil, elaborating style was quite remit conformity with the newer trends in the cinema.

—Ib Monty