Review of Gertrud (1964) by Andrew B — 04 Sep 2009

This film feels more like a focused meditation, so unfortunately it requires a lot of focus and determination to grab a hold of what Dreyer is trying to say. This, as his final film, definitely feels like so because of the almost darkly foreboding senility that you feel you're at odds with once it's over.

To sum it up: love is a bitch, so we must either accept that, or not. The entire film is slow, quiet, and very minimalistic (which is not a bad thing, but I've seen him do much better), so unless you're prepared to "pay the toll" you might want to stick to Dreyer's more incredible works first (Passion of Joan of Arc, Ordet, Day of Wrath).