It's refreshing to view a film that not only has religous faith as its subject, but also has the insight to grasp the crux of belief and the fervour it generates. 'Ordet' displays faith and all its flaws, but in the end, you may find your faith revived, or you may just find faith. 'Ordet' is that powerful.

The plot rehashes the 'Romeo and Juliet' archetype, with two lovers bordering fundumental fences. Their fathers don't see eye to eye on religious views. There are a few other major characters, most notable being the reincarnation of Jesus.

While all the characters are quite round and easy to sympathize with, their rudimentary fuction is to allow Dreyer to ponder faith and its paradoxes. The film is basically all talk with very little action, which may be one of Dreyer's points. The characters argue about what constitutes faith, but you get the feeling that they find opposing arguments hollow. Only in the film's final scenes does any real "action" occur, when everyone stops arguing and turns the other cheek.

Perhaps only Dreyer's own 'The Passion of Joan of Arc' is a stronger meditation on the subject of faith. Whatever your denomination, 'Ordet' probably covers you. The film's strength lies in its presentation of religous ideals, and the conflicts which can arise from those ideals. Religious faith, like any other ideal, has the tendency to make people stubborn, in that only one ideal can exist. At the end of the film, Dreyer also seems to believe that only one ideal exists, one that requires a tremendous leap of faith.

Carl Theodor Dreyer's classic cinematic examination of faith (Rating: 5.00)
Review : "Ordet" is one of the finest examinations of the nature of faith in cinema history. Johannes Borgen (Preben Lerdorff Rye) wanders an open field in the Danish countryside, believing himself to be Christ and preaching to the wind. A former theology student, Johannes had a mental breakdown as he grappled with the mysteries of faith. Meanwhile, his younger brother Anders (Cay Kristiansen) has fallen in love with Anne (Gerda Nielsen), the daughter of fundamentalist tailor (Ejnar Federspiel), a relationship of which their father Morten (Henrik Malberg) very much disapproves. Morten is a most pious man, who believes people should enjoy a personal, unstructured relationship with God. He had encouraged Johannes to study religion believing his son was ideally suited for helping restore the faith of the villagers in God. But now he is racked with guilt over his son's madness and religious divisions continue to destroy his family.

Director Carl Theodor Drever represents discrete theological positions in the four sons: Johannes attacks the skepticism of the modern world; Peter cannot tolerate putting organized religion above common decency; Anders refuses to allow theology to stand in the way of love; and Mikkel's agnosticism stops him from seeking God's help. The faith of Morten proves to be equally imperfect as he turns upon Johannes, dismissing his visions as mere delusions. In the end, Morten is a man who refuses to believe his prayers have been answered. Drever's style as a director is as austere as Ingmar Bergman's, but I think he succeeds in exploring the complexities of religion more in "Ordet" than Bergman does in all of his films combined (granted, Bergman ultimately focuses on issues other than religion).

Beautiful, spiritual film by a master film maker! (Rating: 5.00)
Review : This is one of the most spiritual and uplifting films of all time. It is shot in the same, sparce, beautiful manner that Carl Dreyer employs in so many of his films. There are long lingering camera shots that allow us to look at a person as we might in real life...not like many Hollywood films where the camera angle jumps about every other second.

The story is a kind of Danish "Romeo and Juliet" about two families divided by religion. However, "Ordet" never becomes a tragedy, because of a miracle. Do you believe in miracles? How about the miracle of forgiveness and how it heals human relationships? This is a film to teach us all about that.