Ordet / The Word
There is a case for calling the Dane Carl-Theodor Dreyer the greatest film-maker of the twentieth century. The Word, commonly known by its Danish title Ordet, was his second-to-last feature. From a stage play by the pastor/playwright Kaj Munk, murdered by the Nazis in 1944, Dreyer fashioned an extraordinary fable about the possibility of miracles by choosing the most impossible one of all, resurrection from the dead. For my essay on it that first appeared in the journal 'Theology' in 2001, click here (8 pages in pdf format).
The miracle is performed by Johannes, the lunatic in the family, encouraged by Inger's daughter - only the innocent and the holy fool can bring it off.
