Jamie Olson
Ms. Robin Seaton
English 12Z section 002
May 1, 2000
Carl Theodore Dreyer addressed hidden and obvious
concerns when he produced Day of Wrath in 1943. Created in Denmark,
this film’s success was influential and powerful. Don Druker, who
writes for Chicago Reader, stated, “ This film is ambiguous in its treatment
of the reality of evil. It has an immense power and sense of torment.”
Dreyer makes evil very prevalent. This film parallels events that
took place in Denmark during the 1940’s. An evil source influenced
many plot defining activities. This centers on Anne Pedersdotter,
the main female character. Anne is the wife of Absalon
Pedersson, the church’s minister. During the 16th and 17th century,
this movie’s setting, Denmark’s witches brought forth numerous problems.
Society’s members hunted to remove witches from their communities.
Many people testified that they were victims of demonic possession, or
that they found Satan’s mark on an accused witch’s body. (Holmes 1993)
Absalon’s power to pardon accused witches later brought him many problems.
Anne’s evil doings commenced when she learned that her mother was a witch,
and that she too may posses the same dark powers. Anne developed
a secret relationship with Absalon’s son Martin,
thus his actions also became evil. All three main characters had a specific
type of power that proves to be very dangerous, as power proved dangerous
to the Nazi movement in 1943.
Complications filled Absalon’s life. He and Anne
did not have a normal marriage. Anne was younger than Absalon by
many years. Their marriage arrangement came to pass very abnormally.
Absalon used his pastoral power in return for Anne as his bride.
The accusation of Anne’s mother’s brought this. Absalon’s pastoral
role gave him the power to pardon an accused witch. He possessed
a god-given power, which the church bestowed on him. When authorities sent
Anne’s mother to Absalon he pardoned her. However, he only did this
when she promised him her young daughter’s hand in marriage. Absalon knew
Anne’s mother practiced demonic ceremonies, but he allowed her live solely
because of their agreement. He used his heavenly power for his own
personal benefit. This later comes back to haunt him. When a witch,
Herlofs Marte, is sentenced to burn at the stake, she calls upon Absalon
to use his power again. She knew Absalon’s pardon eliminated Anne’s
mother’s death sentence. Herlofs Marte begged Absalon to pardon her
as well, but he refused. He felt guilty for using wrongly his power
for Anne’s mother. He did not want to use it again, presumably because
it would not benefit him. While burning at the stake Herlofs Marte denounced
Absalon and Anne. This event foretold a horrible event. Perhaps
Anne’s denouncement caused her to commit the terrible sins that she did.
At the end of the film Anne directly causes Absalon’s death. His
power to pardon people from death proved to be dangerous for him. Because
he had the power to pardon Herlofs Marte and did not, she cursed him and
Anne. His power was also dangerous because the only reason that he
pardoned Anne’s mother from death was so he could marry Anne. But,
in the end Anne was the reason that he died. The use of his power
came back and killed him.
At the time this movie was produced, many
political activities were happening that influenced this film. The
Nazi progression parallels this Day of Wrath. Many similarities between
Absalon and Nazi military officers are recognizable. Nazi military
officers received authority over their prisoners and other soldiers, and
this gave them power. Everyday civilians looked up to and highly
respected these officers. However, in many cases the officers beat
and killed the civilians. (Kimel, 1997) They took advantage of the respect
they received because of their military position. Even though the
officers were doing their jobs, the employment of these powers caused them
to commit many crimes. Officers had the power to kill prisoners, which
was much like Absalon’s power to pardon a witch. The death of Absalon
occurred because he utilized his power. Similarly, many officers
who used their powers to carry out many horrible acts were tried at the
Nuremberg Trials, which ran from October 20, 1945 to October 1, 1946.
Many officers and soldiers committed horrendous war crimes. A group of
13 soviets, who were under the command of Kurt Christmann, used gas vans
and killed patients in a municipal hospital, a children’s hospital, and
also a convalescent home. They were tried at the Nuremberg Trials
and found guilty of this war crime. Eight of the accused were hanged
and three received twenty years in prison. (Austin, 2000) In this
situation, their powers proved to be very dangerous, as they received punishment
for crimes they committed.
The power that Martin possesses as Absalon’s son
becomes dangerous after his father’s death. The immediate attraction between
Anne and Martin foreshadows that the power of lust will overtake Martin.
This is ignored at first, because Anne is Absalon’s wife. But when
Anne calls Martin to her, their long love affair begins. Anne has
no remorse about their affair because she resents Absalon for marrying
her when she was so young, and without her consent. Martin, however,
feels guilty and projects this to Anne. Anne’s wishes to have Absalon
out of her life so she and Martin can live happily, and without remorse.
The situation becomes awkward and Martin clearly states to Anne that because
of his father, their affair cannot continue. Anne felt despaired,
and as a result of the power of lust over her relationship with Martin,
evil thoughts lead her to extreme measures. When Absalon falls down
dead after he and Anne have an argument, Martin worries deeply. He
knew Anne’s mother was a witch and asked her if she caused Absalon’s death,
after hesitation she replies negatively. Martin has the power to
clear Anne’s name, and this he does. At Absalon’s funeral, Martin
does not mention that Anne might have caused his father’s death.
But after Anne’s guiltiness is proven, Martin’s protection over her proves
to be dangerous to him because it now appears that he was involved with
the death of his father. He was the man that drove Anne to kill Absalon.
In the end, lust’s hold over Martin, caused Anne to kill his father.
Another parallel can be drawn between Martin
and the German Nazi soldiers. Many men were forced to be soldiers
or falsely lured into thinking the Nazi way. These men were drug
along and although they knew deep down that their actions weren’t right,
the immediate consequences were nonexistent. This relates largely
to the love affair between Anne and Martin. Anne used her forces
as a witch to lure Martin to her. She tore him away from his father
and made him believe that everything she said was true. Being with
Anne in a sinful way had consequences for Martin. But Anne made these
seem unimportant, as they enjoyed their life together. His power
of lust that he gained from their sinful affair proved to be dangerous,
as did the power of the Nazi movement was given to everyday soldiers. These
soldiers began to believe in Nazism and they began to commit sinful acts
also.
This film focuses on Anne’s evil powers.
The realization that she possesses these powers comes from the events with
Herlofs Marte. She tells Anne that she was there for her mother when
they accused her of being a witch and now, in return, Anne must help her.
When Absalon tells Anne that this is true, and that he pardoned her mother
from being burned, Anne asked him what powers her mother had. She
had the power to call a living or dead person and the power to kill someone
by wishing them dead. Absalon telling Anne the powers that her mother
possessed was a very significant part in the plot. Once she knows
the powers, which her mother held, the temptation to find out if she too
had these powers prevailed. That night she called for Martin, and
he came to her. This event began their love affair. Anne
using her dark powers to summon Martin started the affair. Her realization
of her powers prompted her to use them. As their affair progressed
Anne became extremely happy with Martin and wanted to lead a normal life
with him. She remembered that Absalon said her mother had the power
to kill someone just by wishing him or her dead, but she didn’t know if
she too possessed that power. Many times she thought about how her
life would be if Absalon were dead, but she never came right out and wished
it. One night, after she had been thinking those thoughts, Absalon
came back and said that he felt like death had just brushed past him.
He added that lately he had been feeling like that frequently. This
made Anne realize that she really did have the power to kill a person just
by wishing them dead. That night she and Absalon got into a disagreement
about the wrongs that he had committed to her by marrying her so young
and without her consent. Again, the realization of her power made
her want to use it, and she did. She killed Absalon just by wishing
that he were dead. She tried to deny it to Martin, but when the pastors
made her place her hand on Absalon’s corpse and swear that she had nothing
to do with his death, she couldn’t. She burned at the stake.
The realization of her powers, which lead to the use of them, caused her
death. Because Anne made use of the evil powers that she had inherited
from her mother, she was killed. Her powers were very dangerous to
others, but fatal to herself.
In many ways Anne’s character can be comparable
to Hitler’s. Once Hitler realized the powers he possessed and what
he could get away with, he committed numerous horrible crimes. In
1943 Hitler started to withdrawal food and starve the Danish people, who
then were considered “a pure Nordic race.” (Kimel 1997) He
attempted to capture all Danish Jews, which resulted in sending many elderly
Danish people to Theresienstadt ghettos, in Bohemia. (About.com, 2000)
When he realized that others were not going to stand up to him and that
could order anyone to do anything, he had Nazi soldiers kill thousands
of people, solely because he thought them inferior. An excerpt from
the opening of the film declares, “Day of Wrath, as the dark night grasps
hold of the ends of the earth, the sun stands, surrounded by darkness.”
(Bordwell, 1981) Both Anne and Hitler felt they were the sun in the midst
of darkness, and that their way was the right way. They both were
willing to do anything to accomplish their “dreams.” This resulted
in the massacre of the Jewish race and the murder of Absalon. Anne’s
realization of her powers prompted her to use them, and this was much the
same with Hitler. With both Hitler and Anne, the use of their powers
was their downfall. Nobody really knows how Hitler died, but experts
think that he lost his mind and committed suicide. This was a result
of previous actions. Anne used her powers to kill Absalon.
Her power was extremely dangerous, for it was because of them that she
was killed.
The purpose of this film was not only to show
how dangerous power can be, but also to exhibit how this was applicable
to real life in Denmark in 1943. Each main character in this movie
exhibited the use of power. Absalon used his heavenly power when
he pardoned Anne’s mother from death. The power of lust, associated
with Martin, inspired Anne’s desire to kill Absalon. Also, Martin
had the power to protect Anne because he was Absalon’s son. Anne’s
realization that she possessed evil power that was inherited from her mother
caused her to use her powers and kill Absalon. Hitler and different members
of his army also exhibited the danger of power in real life. Dreyer
portrayed Denmark’s complications during the witch-hunts in this film,
but also he inadvertently addressed the problem of Nazism in Denmark in
1943. This film’s main characters as well as the Nazi army exhibited
how power weakened them and eventually caused their demise.
Bibliography
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23 April 2000.
Available: http://history1900s.about.com/education/history1900s/library/weekly/a
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Austin, Ben. “The Nuremberg War Crime Trials.” [Online] Available: http://www.mtsu.
edu/~baustin/trials.html (28 April 2000)
Bordwell, David. The Films Of Carl-Theodore Dreyer, United States, University
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California Press, 1981.
Druker, Don. “Chicago Reader.” [Online] Available:
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