Prästänkan

The Parson's Widow is not entirely a really great silent film; it loses some of its strengths as a satire on marriage and (partially) religion when it starts to get a little sentimental towards the end. But for a while, one sees a film by the master Danish filmmaker Carl Th. Dreyer flexing his directorial muscles on something that is something one might not expect from seeing such pieces of perfect tragedy like Joan of Arc or Day of Wrath. Here we get the story of Sofren (Einar Rod), an unconventional would-be Parson who 'auditions' for the position by going on about the devil in an off-beat manner (yes, off-beat). He learns that in order to become the village Parson, he needs to marry the presumed local old witch, Miss Pedersdotter (grim-faced Hildur Carlberg), who lures him in with a piece of cursed cod and has him succumb to marry her - but he really wants Mari (Almroth), and cannot until she dies. But when?

There's some splendid comic set-pieces set in here, like with Sofren trying to scare the old Miss in a devil-disguised sheet, only to be foiled by his own slippers, or when Sofren tries to sneak out at night to see Mari and continually gets caught (or, in one case, another old woman in the bed!) But what's more amazing here is Dreyer's choices in casting. Rod is perfect for this kind of frustrated, ambitious but conniving sort, with great and imaginative eyes that do a lot while seeming to do little (one compared this as Dreyer doing Day of Wrath as a Chaplin, but I don't see much of Chaplin in his main male lead), and Carlberg is so dead-on for this old widow who may or may die (depending on if a life-lengthening potion works) that it's among some of Dreyer's best actors in one of his movies.

While Dreyer sometimes loses his footing in the story, as mentioned towards the end, he makes up for it with some curious scenes, like the dance at the wedding, or the specific use of colored tints. When Sofron has the weird dream state of seeing a 'young' Miss Pedersdotter, we see it in a haze of light red (or maybe blue), and it's completely dazzling for a moment. It might be a slightly lighter affair than his more 'serious' pictures, but for the curious digging into Dreyer's catalog, it's not at all a disappointment. At its best Parson's Widow has a good, hard farcical grip on the subject matter.

I haven't seen Carl Theodor Dreyer's directorial début, "The President" (Præsidenten), yet. I've seen "Leaves from Satan's Book" (Blade af Satans Bog), however, and it was totally unimpressive. Dreyer took from Griffith's "Intolerance", but didn't even manage a simulacrum of the American director's craft. "The Parson's Widow" is a much better beginning for Denmark's great filmmaker. It is the work of a director coming into his own, even though it's much different in some ways from the rest of his oeuvre.

As with "Leaves from Satan's Book" and his later films, there's the preoccupation with history and religion. But, as others agree, this is Dreyer light. The story of a man who must marry a hag to become a village's parson, and his plots to marry his young fiancée and keep the job despite it is amusing. I thought the devil costume bit was particularly humorous. Dreyer's direction is what makes this worthwhile, though. The quick pace, not lingering on shots and improved camera positioning compared to "Leaves from Satan's Book" make this film more accessible and entertaining.

Dreyer again uses masking and fades extensively, but this time it adds to the style. He gets the most out of the actors. (It shouldn't be underestimated how quicker shot succession can improve, or detract from, otherwise unremarkable acting.) Additionally, the introduction to the past through the waterfall was an especially nice touch. The confining location sets, and more importantly, how Dreyer and cinematographer George Schnéevoigt film them also add greatly to this tightly told film. The small church full of dividers is just a great find, and they use the spaces of the home of the parson's wife very well, with camera placement and continuity editing.

Prästänkan / The Parson's Widow (1920) : Brief Review -

A pathbreaking romance with a lesson of goodwill easily makes into my top 5 films of Carl Theodor Dreyer. Having seen all the acclaimed works of Carl Theodor Dreyer, be it Danish or Swedish, I can easily say that The Parson's Widow makes it into my top 5 films (if not top 3) by the legendary director. All my top favourite Dreyer films belong to the talkie era: "Vampyr" (1932), "Vredens Dag" (1943) and "Order" (1955), except for his best work ever, "The Passion of Joan of Arc" (1928), which was a silent movie. Prästänkan does not beat Joan's passionate story and Ordet, but finds equal praise as the other two films. The Parson's Widow is a weird romance. I think weird is an insulting word, so let me call it pathbreaking. Hal Ashby made "Harold and Maude" (1971) after 51 years, where a teenager falls in love with an old lady, and the latter dies in the end. Now imagine seeing the same stuff in a Swedish film made in 1920. A young graduate marries a lady of his grandmother's age to win the love of his girlfriend. How weirdly pathbreaking and fascinating idea it was! And the climax has a great deal of goodwill to leave you with a positive message and tender sentiments. The film is based on a story called Prestekonen by Kristofer Janson, and I don't know nothing about that. I just followed Dreyer's film adaptation and loved it. Einar Röd as Söfren is good, but seems over-expressive on many occasions. One such example was that feeling dizzy scene. But I liked his final quote, "We owe her a great debt, Mari. She taught you to keep a good home and she taught me to be an honourable man." Any real man would love that. Hildur Carlberg as Dame Margarete is a show stealer here, while Greta Almroth poses cutely as an innocent girlfriend. Writer and director Carl Theodor Dreyer has done a fabulous job of making one of the most daring and beautiful love stories that stands the test of time, even today. His most significant achievement during his early career.

RATING - 7.5/10*

By - #samthebestest.

I do not know if Dreyer's first feature, "The President" was a big hit, to speculate if he had strong doubts about what his next films would be. In any case, it did not take long before he started shooting again, for the next year he released "Leaves Out of the Book of Satan" and next "The Parson's Widow", a production made and financed in Sweden. The story tells how a young man, when selected as the new parson of a community, marries his predecessor's old widow (who claims her right to do so), but brings along his own fiancée to live with them, making her pass as his sister. There is opportunism on both the parson's and the widow's sides, but this being a comedy these matters are treated lightly, as are eluded reflections on the options we may have in old age or youth, when facing the possibility of losing everything, as in the widow's case, or the shaping of a career and a happy life, in the young man's. Yet this is a strange comedy, for melancholy is always present, mainly reflected on the old but still beautiful and dignified face of actress Hildur Carlberg; and if it is true that Dreyer was not intent on making an ethnographic treatise, one of the most interesting aspects of his film is the portrait of rural settings, customs and rites, as religious sermons, feasts, weddings and funerals. If you ask me I prefer "The President" to this film, but it was a firm step in the filmography of the creator of "The Passion of Jeanne d'Arc", "Vampyr" and "Ordet".

The name Carl Theodor Dreyer may inspire images of slow pans, heavy religious/mystical themes, and somnolent pacing, but it was not always thus. During his apprenticeship at Nordisk in the early '20's Dreyer scripted, edited, and directed all kinds of films. "The Parson's Widow" anticipates themes in the mature Dreyer, namely religion and carnality, but cloaks them in an agreeable, fast-paced (for Dreyer!) silent comedy.

A young parson wins a plum parish in 17th century Norway, but is obliged to marry the widow of his deceased predecessor and pretend his attractive young fiancee is his sister. Dreyer milks the situation for gags but goes for a sentimental finish a la Charlot. The master's touch is apparent in the close-ups of the pastor's would-be rivals and parishioners and a slow pan presaging the 360-degree views in "Vampyr." Amazingly, HIldur Carlsburg in the title role closely resembles Maurice Schutz, the old chatelain in "Vampyr," and the mother-in-law in "Day of Wrath."

All in all, a good film. But it is hard to believe that the director of this pleasant work could produce "La Passion de Jeanne D'Arc" just 6 years later.