Carl Theodor Dreyer (1889-1968) was a monumental figure in the history of cinema, making only a few films which transformed the medium. The National Film Theatre in London is gearing up for an extensive retrospective of his work, ranging from the silent era (The President, Leaves from Satan’s Book, Once Upon a Time, The Parson’s Widow, Love One Another, Michael, Master of the House, The Bride of Glomdal, and The Passion of Joan of Arc) to his rarely-screened, state-sponsored shorts and documentaries to his sound features (Vampyr, Day of Wrath, Two People, Ordet, and Gertrud). If you’re in London between June 1st and 29th or in Edinburgh between June 20th and July 6th, don’t miss it. We can only hope the series will travel internationally.
For those of us in the rest of the world, the Criterion Collection offers a DVD box set of several of Dreyer’s sound films (sans Vampyr, which is distributed by Image Entertainment, and the minor Two People) as well as The Passion of Joan of Arc. The Danish Film Institute recently released Once Upon a Time on DVD. For more information, check out my friend Nick Wrigley’s site, www.carldreyer.com.