Dreyer’s *Day of Wrath* (this post is full of spoilers)

Yes this movie dates from 1943 but I don’t think it is (mainly) about the Nazi persecutions, and every review I have seen on-line seems to misunderstand the film rather badly.  First, it is a #MeToo film.  Anne is abused and in essence raped (repeatedly) by her much older husband Absalon, who is a powerful figure in the local community.  He saved her mother from being burnt as a witch, and in return took her body and matrimonial hand, never asking if she wanted this.  She ends up wishing for his death “hundreds of times,” and the movie focuses on how this marital experience hollows out her inner shell.  Her illicit romance with Martin, Absalon’s son, was never emotionally real and was mainly intended as an escape from her servitude and perhaps also as a bit of revenge.

The second theme of the movie, related to the first, concerns the equilibria of belief in witchcraft.  If some of the citizens believe in witches, some of the otherwise powerless women will pretend to be witches, to win some power.  Anne does this, as she knows that powerlessness is the worst thing in this society.  (The older Herlofs Marthe also left some uncertainty about her powers to reach demons and the like.)  Of course this strategy has potential downsides, especially when some women are burnt as witches, but ex ante it can make sense to parade as a witch with some probability.  For Anne, powerlessness is perceived as so bad she is even willing to be a witch ex post.  Of course she killed Absalon by poisoning his beer, not by placing a hex on him.  Even when facing death, she can’t give up the one source of perceived power she might aspire to have.

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