Carl Theodor Dreyer's robust comedy The Parson's Widow (1920) serves as a wonderful riposte to those who view the Great Dane's works as austere and humorless. Some of the more amusing details in the film include the caricatures of the young parsons competing for the position, the marvelous touch of Sofren using a quill pen to ink in a hole in his jacket sleeve, and Sofren's failed attempts to flirt with Mari, during which he invariably ends up making a pass at an ugly old housekeeper by mistake. At the same time, the film culminates in a moving scene of forgiveness and reconciliation that links it to later efforts such as Master of the House (1925) and Ordet (1955). This is one of Dreyer's most accessible works, and it demonstrates his full emotional range as a director.
The performances are uniformly excellent, but Hildur Carlberg, who passed away shortly after filming, really stands out as Margarete. Alternately sly, vulnerable, imperious and resigned, it is she who makes the film's modulations between comedy and drama work so effortlessly. Dreyer treats the widow with great sympathy; Sofren, on the other hand, is depicted as immature, particularly in his selfish attempt to assert his will in a household in which he is only a latecomer. The film as a whole is distinguished by beautiful lighting and direction; especially worthy of note is Dreyer's staging of action in depth and his use of doorways to frame actors. Dreyer shot the film on location in the picturesque Maihaugen open-air village-museum near Lillehammer, Norway, which conveniently had traditional props and architecture at his disposal. The resulting authenticity of texture helps lend weight to the film's emotional trajectory.
The DVD, distributed by Image Entertainment and produced by David Shepard, contains a crisp transfer of a beautiful tinted 35mm print that shows off the film's cinematography and lush settings to full advantage. The newly recorded music score, played by Neil Kurtz, is a compilation of piano pieces by Edvard Grieg, mostly from his Lyric Suites. Shepard and Kurtz have thoughtfully included a menu indexing the music cues so you can locate where particular pieces are used in the film.
In addition to the main feature, Shepard has included two short films that Dreyer made during the 1940s, prints courtesy of the Danish Film Institute. The first, They Caught the Ferry (1948), is a traffic safety film with a grimly humorous conclusion. Thorvaldsen (1949) is a well-photographed study on the work of the early 19th century sculptor. For this documentary both English-language and the original Danish narration are offered as soundtrack options. Neither film should be considered a major contribution to the Dreyer canon, but it's great that Shepard took the trouble to obtain prints of them for this DVD and Dreyer fans will be thrilled at the opportunity to see these rare works.
Less than ten years ago, very few Dreyer films were available on videocassette, and in all cases the prints were in wretched condition. Thanks to the efforts of producers such as the Criterion Collection and David Shepard, most of his major films are now available in good-looking transfers on DVD in the US market. For me, the nicest surprise so far is The Parson's Widow, which I would rank very highly among Dreyer's work as a whole.
For more information about The Parson's Widow, visit Image Entertainment. To order The Parson's Widow, go to TCM Shopping.
by James Steffen
