Master of the House

Welp, this is undeniably Dreyer, a man with no sense of subtlety. Could easily have been a 30 minute film and lost absolutely nothing. The whole thing can be summed up in a sentence "Women work hard and need to be respected at home even if they don't bring any money." It's a decent film with some good moments but utterly forgettable.

Very solid film about an emotionally abusive husband who learns the value of his wife when she conspires with her mother and the husband's former nanny to leave him and teach him a lesson. Has comedic and dramatic tones. It's more than a bit dated in a bunch of ways (most modern eyes probably wouldn't want her going anywhere near him ever again), but it's well done and moves along nicely. A bit more subtlety with the husband's character might have improved it. The title is absolutely perfect.

I guess I didn't see the same thing as a lot of people seem to. I didn't see this as a feminist film or be about gender roles or subservience. I saw this as a domestic abuse and an inability to manage failure and pressure film. The husband wasn't a typical husband of the time but one of those abusive, impoverished men who need to take out their disappointment, stress, and anger on those weaker than themselves, in short, a weak-willed bully. That said, I enjoyed this slightly overlong tale.

86.00

Worth seeing but a bit drawn out; its charm would have been maximized in a shorter film.

Dreyer's biggest hit is viewed nowadays as an early feminist film, focusing on an unappreciated housewife's struggle to please her demanding husband who is suffering from shame due to his recent business failures. Instead of consoling, he projects his rage and frustration onto her and their children. Dreyer's talent for staging and lighting interiors is extraordinary, and there are many poignant moments, especially in its depiction of routine domesticity, but it's too long and preachy.

Pro: Use of interiors, decoration, light, camera, subdued performances. Con: Heavy handed extreme feminism; dullish. And Dreyer is never dullish.

feminism, circa 1925: a compassionate and romantically expressionist piece, no doubt in part due to the beautiful and omnipresent solo piano soundtrack. however, there is only so far you can go with such a simple, schmaltzy and entirely fantastical narrative, which is much too long. and the piano is a bit too omnipresent by the end.

Boring and forgettable. I'd like to have more good things to say about Dreyer's work but with my three movie experiences thus far, there's nothing to say.

Lives in the little moments like Getrud.