Well, you know me…I love a good austere Swedish black and white picture…or as my friends and family would say “A long boring foreign film.” Last year I discovered the genius of Carl Theodore Dryer in his probing exploration of faith and miracles, “Ordet“. It was incredible to finally see a contemporary of Ingmar Bergman, who Woody Allen himself described “probably the greatest film artist, all things considered, since the invention of the motion picture camera.” This evening I have been struck so deeply though that I find myself unable to sleep after watching Dryer’s “Gertrud.” It’s harsh and commanding take on love and life has just left me nonplussed … Honestly, I just don’t know what to feel.
“The gardener has been told that only grass shall grow on my grave and in springtime I shall have anemones. You’ll come by one day, pick an anemone and think of me. Take it as a word of love that was thought, but never spoken.”
Interested dipping your toes into some incredible cinema : I’d suggest “Wild Strawberries” or “The Seventh Seal” by Bergman first.
A Cup A Day 