- In 4 episodic tales of human suffering: the temptation of Jesus, the Spanish Inquisition, the French Revolution and the Russo-Finnish war of 1918, Satan attempts to win God's favor.
- After seeing D. W. Griffith's epic Intolerance, Denmark's greatest director, Carl Theodor Dreyer (The Passion of Joan of Arc, Vampyr), was inspired to make his own four-episode historical epic with each story told end to end, anthology-style, linked by theme to the others. The unifying character, Satan, attempts to win God's favor but is doomed to cheerless participation in dark episodes of human history: the temptation of Jesus, the Spanish Inquisition, the French Revolution and the Russo-Finnish war of 1918. Few directors resisted compromise and convention the way Dreyer did; fortunately, the Nordisk Film Company was artistically progressive by Hollywood standards and agreed that this should be a prestige film made to the highest standards. More than two years in production, Dreyer not only directed but also controlled every facet of this ambitious production.—Anonymous
- Satan is exiled from Heaven by God and doomed to stay on Earth. God states that for each soul who falls in temptation, his sentence will be increased in one hundred years, for each soul who resists, his sentence will be decreased in one thousand years. Satan is followed in dark moments of mankind history: the betrayal of Jesus by Judas, the Spanish Inquisition, the French Revolution, and the Finnish Civil War of 1918.—Claudio Carvalho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
- Carl Theodor Dreyer's classic silent film tells the tale of Satan's (Helge Nissen) banishment from heaven. In order to return, Satan must perform acts of temptation upon humanity with the stipulation that for every soul who yields, 100 years will be added to his time on Earth. For every soul who resists, 1000 years will be commuted from his judgment. The film follows Satan's path through the ages as an instigator during times of conflict.
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Top Gap
By what name was Leaves From Satan's Book (1920) officially released in Canada in English?
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