Ordet

On a Danish farm one of three sons believes he is a prophet, one has lost his faith, and one wants to marry a girl from another denomination. The split over belief enters every daily decision the family makes. The film is built almost entirely from long takes; the camera moves through the room, editing stays out of it, and the playing is deliberately slow. That form is what carries the weight of the closing scene. Carl Theodor Dreyer directed, adapting Kaj Munk's play. It won the Golden Lion at Venice. Before watching: the film closes on a contested scene we will not describe here, and Dreyer stages it as a question about faith rather than an answer. The pace is very slow.