After hearing of this famous film for years, I finally got a chance to see Ordet. Despite the obvious virtues well described by others (Dreyer's great photography with superb lighting and framing, and for the most part excellent acting), I was disappointed by Munk's plot development, especially its denouement - a totally avoidable descent into miracle-mongering mumbo-jumbo.
Let me explain why this was avoidable, and suggest that a more satisfactory ending would be possible, even while keeping most of the Ordet story elements intact. Knowing nothing about its trajectory, I at first welcomed the close proximity display of varying religious positions manifested in an early 20th century rural society, where such matters were taken more seriously and dogmatically than is usually the case today. I looked forward to how this diversity would work out, and what point would be made of it. First, you had Patriarch Morten Borgen, who is committed to a less severe form of Protestantism, and second, his son Mikkel, who is determinedly not religious. Third, his son Johannes who had become obsessed with Kierkegaard (a Danish existentialist) that he read while in college, and had returned to the farm thinking he was Jesus, looking down on the others, and given to long boring soliloquies on these matters. Despite Morten's annoyance and his own rigid beliefs, he seems to accept with regret the apparently psychotic Johannes, and is tolerant of the admirable and hard working Mikkel. But he is quite rigid with the third son Anders and his love for Kirstin, a daughter of Peter Petersen, who leads a much more strict Protestant gathering. Petersen also rejects Anders, which leads to some comedy involving Borgen pride. The families almost come to blows over the matter, and Petersen predicts bad tidings for the Borgen farmstead. There are elements of class conflict here; Petersen is an impecunious self-employed tailor with only his skill and tools, while Borgen is a hereditary landowner as well as farmer.
When Mikkel's pregnant wife, Inger, has complications with delivery, Johannes' mouth swings into action, first correctly predicting the infant's death and then that of Inger - despite the doctor's opinion that she is beyond danger. This awes the religious Morten almost as much as the deaths sorrow him. But then Johannes inexplicably bolts from the farm and is nowhere to be found. The film audience may be relieved that this gloomy guy seems to be out of the picture. Mikkel tries to be stoic about Inger's apparent death, up until viewing his wife's body in the casket. Meanwhile, Peter Petersen is sorry for his prediction of doom, has a change of heart, shows up at Inger's funeral, gives his daughter's hand to Anders, and reconciles with Morten. Religious dogmatism and division seem to have taken a back seat at last, and though Inger lies still, there is a rare cloud of joy and tolerance in this dark depiction of Denmark.
Suddenly, Johannes reappears at the funeral, looking less crazed, but still full of chutzpah. Waving the magic wand of his ideology, he raises Inger. Mikkel is so overjoyed that he forgets his principles and essentially promises to become religious. The others, including an impressionable child, are thrilled. The doctor, also at the funeral, smiles but is noncommittal. What could have gone through the good doctor's mind might have been the seed of a plot alteration that would raise Ordet itself from a dead religious tract to a live message of tolerance and good will.
Even in the 1920s, doctors were aware of occasional although rare graveside catalepsy, where the apparently dead arise before burial. It could be that Johannes had come to his senses, showed up due to guilt for the hurt caused by his religious snobbery and dire predictions, and merely wished to apologize for his behavior - with no magic word ("ordet" in Danish) necessary. The recovery from catalepsy could have occurred after this apology, perhaps along with some final words from the good doctor explaining what happened. It wasn't so in the Dreyer movie, but it could have been developed that way. The result would have been more enlightening as well as more entertaining.
Let me explain why this was avoidable, and suggest that a more satisfactory ending would be possible, even while keeping most of the Ordet story elements intact. Knowing nothing about its trajectory, I at first welcomed the close proximity display of varying religious positions manifested in an early 20th century rural society, where such matters were taken more seriously and dogmatically than is usually the case today. I looked forward to how this diversity would work out, and what point would be made of it. First, you had Patriarch Morten Borgen, who is committed to a less severe form of Protestantism, and second, his son Mikkel, who is determinedly not religious. Third, his son Johannes who had become obsessed with Kierkegaard (a Danish existentialist) that he read while in college, and had returned to the farm thinking he was Jesus, looking down on the others, and given to long boring soliloquies on these matters. Despite Morten's annoyance and his own rigid beliefs, he seems to accept with regret the apparently psychotic Johannes, and is tolerant of the admirable and hard working Mikkel. But he is quite rigid with the third son Anders and his love for Kirstin, a daughter of Peter Petersen, who leads a much more strict Protestant gathering. Petersen also rejects Anders, which leads to some comedy involving Borgen pride. The families almost come to blows over the matter, and Petersen predicts bad tidings for the Borgen farmstead. There are elements of class conflict here; Petersen is an impecunious self-employed tailor with only his skill and tools, while Borgen is a hereditary landowner as well as farmer.
When Mikkel's pregnant wife, Inger, has complications with delivery, Johannes' mouth swings into action, first correctly predicting the infant's death and then that of Inger - despite the doctor's opinion that she is beyond danger. This awes the religious Morten almost as much as the deaths sorrow him. But then Johannes inexplicably bolts from the farm and is nowhere to be found. The film audience may be relieved that this gloomy guy seems to be out of the picture. Mikkel tries to be stoic about Inger's apparent death, up until viewing his wife's body in the casket. Meanwhile, Peter Petersen is sorry for his prediction of doom, has a change of heart, shows up at Inger's funeral, gives his daughter's hand to Anders, and reconciles with Morten. Religious dogmatism and division seem to have taken a back seat at last, and though Inger lies still, there is a rare cloud of joy and tolerance in this dark depiction of Denmark.
Suddenly, Johannes reappears at the funeral, looking less crazed, but still full of chutzpah. Waving the magic wand of his ideology, he raises Inger. Mikkel is so overjoyed that he forgets his principles and essentially promises to become religious. The others, including an impressionable child, are thrilled. The doctor, also at the funeral, smiles but is noncommittal. What could have gone through the good doctor's mind might have been the seed of a plot alteration that would raise Ordet itself from a dead religious tract to a live message of tolerance and good will.
Even in the 1920s, doctors were aware of occasional although rare graveside catalepsy, where the apparently dead arise before burial. It could be that Johannes had come to his senses, showed up due to guilt for the hurt caused by his religious snobbery and dire predictions, and merely wished to apologize for his behavior - with no magic word ("ordet" in Danish) necessary. The recovery from catalepsy could have occurred after this apology, perhaps along with some final words from the good doctor explaining what happened. It wasn't so in the Dreyer movie, but it could have been developed that way. The result would have been more enlightening as well as more entertaining.