WorldCat Linked Data Explorer

Turtle N-Triple JSON-LD RDF/XML HTML Contact Us Home

http://worldcat.org/entity/work/id/436795718

The Parson's widow

In this Swedish production filmed in a Norwegian village, the new parson, although accompanied by his fiancee, is obliged by custom to marry the previous village parson's elderly widow. Ranging from the broad farce of its opening to the tranquil melancholy of the end, this film becomes a subtle study in loneliness, a recurring Dreyer theme, as the camera focuses on the immobility of Hildur Carlberg who played Dame Margaret with quiet inner authority and great good humour. Dreyer not only sought to have 'the personalities of the characters reflected in the details that surround them' but also to illuminate the naturalness of the supernatural, as when the old woman mysteriously wills herself to die. Strangely, the 77 year old actress died within weeks of the film's completion having kept her promise to Dreyer not to die before its completion.

Open All Close All

type

about

actor

alternateName

http://schema.org/alternateName

  • "Prästänkan"
  • "Fourth marriage of Dame Margaret"@en
  • "They caught the ferry"

contributor

description

http://schema.org/description

  • "In this Swedish production filmed in a Norwegian village, the new parson, although accompanied by his fiancee, is obliged by custom to marry the previous village parson's elderly widow. Ranging from the broad farce of its opening to the tranquil melancholy of the end, this film becomes a subtle study in loneliness, a recurring Dreyer theme, as the camera focuses on the immobility of Hildur Carlberg who played Dame Margaret with quiet inner authority and great good humour. Dreyer not only sought to have 'the personalities of the characters reflected in the details that surround them' but also to illuminate the naturalness of the supernatural, as when the old woman mysteriously wills herself to die. Strangely, the 77 year old actress died within weeks of the film's completion having kept her promise to Dreyer not to die before its completion."@en
  • "An aged woman who has already buried three earlier husbands, asserts her right to marry the new pastor in order to keep her home, the parsonage. Sofren Aldo, the new pastor, brings Mari, his fiancee, to the parish, claiming that she is his sister and hoping that his silly pranks will hasten the old lady's end."
  • "A lighthearted departure from Dreyer's more well-known films such as THE PASSION OF JOAN OF ARC and VAMPYR, THE PARSON'S WIDOW is a silent comedy that follows the romance of Sofren, who is studying to be a parson, his lovely amour Mari. Mari's father won't allow the couple to marry until Sofren has his own ministry, which he hastens to do; once installed in his parish, however, he learns of a troubling local custom that allows the widow of the former parson to marry his successor. The widow Margarete, who is so aged that she has already buried three husbands, exercises her right to a fourth, but Sofren brings Mari with him anyway, calling her his sister. When it begins to seem as though the old lady will never expire, the young lovebirds begin a series of humorous exploits to hasten the process. This release also boasts two rare Dreyer shorts: THEY CAUGHT THE FERRY is a horror fantasy about driver safety in the vein of VAMPYR, and THORVALDSEN is Dreyer's exploration of the sculptor's life and work.DVD."
  • "An aged woman who has already buried three earlier husbands, asserts her right to marry him in order to keep her home, but Sofren Aldo brings Mari to the parish claiming that she is his sister."@en
  • ""This enchanting film tells the story of a young parson who preaches an electrifying sermon to rout his rivals and win his first living in a country village, only to discover that he also inherits the incumbent's widow, Dame Margaret, an ancient lady who has already buried three parson-husbands. Reluctantly he agrees to the marriage, but consoles himself by persuading Dame Margaret to hire his girlfriend, whom he introduces as his sister, as a maid in the parsonage. Frustrated by the constant vigilance of Dame Margaret, the young lovers set about doing away with her, but eventually realize with bitter regret that they have misjudged her" (Tom Milne, The Cinema of Carl Dreyer). Dreyer's third feature is a rare demonstration of his abilities as a director of ribald comedy. "Once we have seen The Parson's Widow, it is easier to find a comic element in even the most serious Dreyer films, stemming from Dreyer's humanism, his acceptance of man for what he is, with all his weaknesses and strength" (Eileen Bowser, The Films of Carl Dreyer, MoMA). At the same time, it is "probably the Dreyer film in which the theme of female supremacy is most clearly stated...rarely has more ferocious malice at the expense of the male been exercised in the cinema" (Sylvie Pierre, quoted in Mark Nash, Dreyer, BFI)."
  • "A story about a young couple who plan to kill a widow, believing her to be a witch. As the melodrama unfolds, however, the old ladyturns out to be a wise and kind woman who changes their conception of love."

director

genre

http://schema.org/genre

  • "Adaptations"
  • "Features"
  • "Curtmetratges (Films)"
  • "Videotapes"
  • "Silent films"
  • "Feature films"@en
  • "comédie (fiction)"
  • "Feature films"
  • "DVD-Video discs"@en
  • "Short films"@en
  • "Short films"
  • "Drama"@en
  • "Drama"

musicBy

name

http://schema.org/name

  • "Prästänkan"
  • "The Parson's widow"@en
  • "The Parson's widow"
  • "The parson' s widow"
  • "Prästänkan (Film)"
  • "The parson's widow"@en
  • "The parson's widow"

workExample