Line #19 Creator/CarlTheodorDreyer


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/carl_theodor_dreyer_photo.jpg]]
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3	Carl Theodor Dreyer (3 February 1889 – 20 March 1968), abbrievated as Carl Th. Dreyer, was a [[UsefulNotes/{{Denmark}} Danish]] filmmaker who started out in the Silent Era and continued until the 1960s. His films were known for their austere visual style, powerful camera movements, intense drama, use of sound, and recurring religious and philosophical themes.
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5	An orphan child born to a poor housemaid out of wedlock, Dreyer spent the first two years of his life in orphanages before being adopted by the Dreyer family who gave him his name. He became interested in making movies after a brief stint working as a journalist. He found job as a writer of silent intertitles and left Denmark to work in the French film industry before commencing work with Nordisk Film. He made his first film ''The President'' in 1919 and TheRoaringTwenties would prove to be Dreyer's most prolific period, and his Danish films were well regarded to the extent that he found work in the German and French film industries.
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7	His BreakthroughHit, at least within Europe, was ''{{Film/Michael\|1924}}'' made in 1924 in Germany, one of the few silent films to deal with a homosexual love story. His first international success was ''Film/ThePassionOfJoanOfArc'', a French production which proved to be his most expensive film at the time, it was also a BoxOfficeBomb but such an AcclaimedFlop that it established Dreyer as a world renowned film-maker. Its revolutionary use of close-ups, intense editing and the performances of the lead actress Renee Maria Falconetti (whom Dreyer had discovered after seeing her in a comedy play). This was also his last silent film and the end of his most prolific phase. For the rest of his career, Dreyer would average ''one film per decade'' owing to both a lack of financial success and his own [[ThePerfectionist exacting standards]], with each successive film greeted with controversy and divided opinion but all eventually becoming VindicatedByHistory as a masterpiece.
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9	''Film/{{Vampyr}}'', made in 1932, was his first sound film, albeit one which was still partly silent; the film was poorly released and subject to ExecutiveMeddling. ''Day of Wrath'' was a dark film about Witch Burning made during the Nazi Occupation (and a favorite of the Danish underground, although Dreyer denied any political message). After the war, Dreyer found work as the owner of a movie theatre and made several educational short films to supplement his income while remaining as uncompromising as ever in his final two films, ''Film/{{Ordet}}'' and ''Gertrud''.
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11	Dreyer is celebrated today as one of the greatest masters of cinema, one who has influenced Creator/PaulSchrader, Creator/IngmarBergman, Creator/JeanLucGodard, Creator/LarsVonTrier and Creator/JohnCassavetes. He was uncompromising (famous for refusing to allow actors to wear makeup), elliptical in terms of ambiguity and lack of resolution in his films yet at the same time seen as a transcendental in his approach to religious themes, and his remarkable depiction of strong women who approach their suffering with courage and determination. The style of his films is also remarkable; they are very slowly paced, make very limited use of space, and powerfully use black and white. Later generations, especially after the discovery of the original print of ''The Passion of Joan of Arc'', would regard Dreyer as among the most modern and least dated of the old masters. All his major films are available on Creator/TheCriterionCollection.
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13	!! Filmography
14	* ''The President'' (1919)
15	* ''The Parson's Widow'' (1920)
16	* ''Leaves from Satan's Book'' (1921)
17	* ''{{Film/Michael\|1924}}'' (1924)
18	* ''Film/MasterOfTheHouse'' (1925)
19	* ''Bride of Glomdal'' (1926)
20	* ''Film/ThePassionOfJoanOfArc'' (1928)
21	* ''Film/{{Vampyr}}'' (1932)
22	* ''Day of Wrath'' (1943)
23	* ''Film/{{Ordet}}'' (1955)
24	* ''Film/{{Gertrud}}'' (1964)

Context Creator / CarlTheodorDreyer