Ordet

Ordet
theatrical release poster
Directed byCarl Theodor Dreyer
Screenplay byCarl Theodor Dreyer
Based onOrdet (1932 play)
by Kaj Munk
Produced byCarl Theodor Dreyer
StarringHenrik Malberg
Emil Hass Christensen
Cay Kristiansen
Preben Lerdorff Rye
CinematographyHenning Bendtsen
Edited byEdith Schlüssel
Music byPoul Schierbeck
Production
company
A/S Palladium
Distributed byKaj Munk & Carl Theodor Dreyer A/S
Release dates
  • 10 January 1955 (1955-01-10) (Denmark)
  • September 1955 (1955-09) (Venice)
  • 15 December 1957 (1957-12-15) (US)
Running time
126 minutes
CountryDenmark
LanguageDanish

Ordet (Danish pronunciation: [ˈoˀɐ̯ð̩], meaning "The Word" and originally released as The Word in English), is a 1955 Danish drama film, written and directed by Carl Theodor Dreyer. It is based on a play by Kaj Munk, a Danish Lutheran priest, first performed in 1932. The film won the Golden Lion at the 16th Venice International Film Festival, and was the only film by Dreyer to be both a critical and financial success.[1]

The film is now regarded by many critics as a masterpiece, admired particularly for its cinematography. In Sight and Sound magazine's 2012 poll on the greatest films of all time, it placed 19th in the directors' poll and 24th in the critics' poll.[2]

  1. ^ Ordet in the Danish Film Institute database (in Danish)
  2. ^ "Votes for Ordet. (1955) | BFI". www2.bfi.org.uk. Archived from the original on May 27, 2017. Retrieved 2021-02-10.