ORDET     1955Directed by Carl Theodor Dreyer126 minutesIn Danish with English subtitles 

In the middle of his career, Lars von Trier felt he was the reincarnation of an earlier Danish filmmaker called Carl Theodor Dreyer (The Passion of Jean D'arc, Day of Wrath, Vampyr). For many people, Ordet, is Carl Dreyer's mesmerizing masterpiece, and they regarded it as one of the most astounding works in film history. What is it about? One of the things it is about is faith. Do you believe in anything? And if you do, are those beliefs an internal fire within you, or are they shaped by forces outside of you... by popular opinion? As this movie unfolds what we have is an examination of faith. I really can't go into the story very much, but it hinges on a crazed, off-beat guy named Johannes, a lost soul who talks to the wind, and believes that the only real religion is a living one.

Let's just say that this is one of those special films that have pierced so many people, and it haunts them for the rest of their lives. It's mostly because of this striking movie that one critic correctly stated "before Lars von Trier, Krzysztof Kieslowski, Andrei Tarkovsky and Ingmar Bergman, there was Carl Theodor Dreyer." What we have in this film is an attempt to "break on through to the other side" and nowhere in cinema has this been achieved as powerfully as in this discreet, Earth-shattering gem. This movie is for those who have the nagging feeling that the "Lord of the Rings Trilogy" cgi spectacle actually has nothing to do with magic at all. 

This will be a high-definition screening.