The President ( Præsidenten )

The President (DVD) (*)

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Original Title: Præsidenten
Language Selections:
Danish ( Subtitles )
English ( Subtitles )
Silent ( Dolby Digital 2.0 )

Product Origin/Format:
Denmark ( PAL/Region 0 )

Running Time:
89 min

Aspect Ratio:
Fullscreen

Special Features:
Biographies
Filmographies
Interactive Menu
Scene Access
Black & White
Remastered

Movie filmed in 1919 and produced in:
Denmark ( Scandinavia, Iceland )

Directed By:
Carl Theodor Dreyer

Written By:
Carl Theodor Dreyer
Karl Emil Franzos

Actors:
Richard Christensen ..... Berger, defense layer
Christian Engelstoft ..... Journalist
Hallander Helleman ..... Franz
Halvard Hoff ..... Victor von Sendlingen
Jon Iversen ..... Weiden, Victorine's fiancé
Jacoba Jessen ..... Maika
Betty Kirkebye ..... Hermine Lippert
Axel Madsen ..... Werner
Carl Walther Meyer ..... Offentlig anklager
Peter Nielsen ..... Birgitta
Fanny Petersen ..... Franz Victors Vater
Elith Pio ..... Victorine Lippert
Olga Raphael-Linden

Synopsis:

This DVD edition is a restoration of Carl Th. Dreyer's first feature film as director. Already in his debut we are witnesses to the thematic mainstay of most of his later films; the mother left to her own destiny with her illigitimate child. In this film the man is haunted by guilt, which he is not allowed to repent. The source of this restoration, supervised by Marguerite Engberg in 1999, is the original nitrate negative. Most silent films were positive cut, with the negative ordered by the lighting designed for the scene; amber for daylight, blue for night and red for fire. Using the manuscript and a partly survived script for the editing, the 224 takes were registered and spaces for the 116 intertitles marked. The scan has been performed from a new tinted 35 mm print produced from the restored duplicate negative in continuity order.

Praesidenten is a film about the crucial conflict between the (conservative) codes of society and individual moral. It tells the story of a grandfather, father and son of a well respected family who all make the same mistake and fall in love with a common girl. They all have to resolve the problem in a way acceptable to the society they live in but must consequently suffer the inner guilt that inevitably follows. Finally, late in his life the son, whose a respected judge in a small town, gets a chance to redeem himself and his ancestors by doing the right thing morally but also severely breaking the law in doing so. This highlights the conflict between the personal and the societal spheres of right and wrong in a spectacular way, especially as Dreyer depicts the other local men of power as only concerned with how the incident would affect their status in society. Dreyer uses flashback-structure in a very efficient and economical way to build the comparisons between the different times portrayed in the film. Furthermore: in this our digital age of fast editing and overflow of image it is most gratifying to see a film that has a complex point to make and manages to do that almost effortlessly with a minimum of 'hassle'. The direction is so economic it almost hides the mastery of cinematic vision behind it to the untrained eye. First of all - the film. It's fascinating. Within the first few minutes are unusual shots of small children trying to clamber down broken ruins, closeups of frogs leaping, and lovely outdoors shots of lovers on a lake, kissing in a boat (reminiscent of Vredens Dag). After this quick paced, fresh, Vigo-like start - the film settles down a bit after a 30-year jump into the future, and Dreyer fans will have a treat spotting stylistic traits and decor that looks straight out of La Passion de Jeanne D'Arc and Ordet. I won't delineate the plot, however, let me just add that any fans of Dreyer out there should strive to pick this up --- it's unlikely we'll see another DVD of this film for many years.

Præsidenten / The President - Denmark 1919 - Directed and written by: Carl Theodor Dreyer, from a novel by Karl Emil Franzos - Cinematographed by: Hans Vaagø - Cast: Halvard Hof , Elith Pio, Carl Meyer, Jacoba Jessen, Olga Raphael-Linden, Betty Kirkeby, Jon Iversen - Produced by: Nordisk Films Kompagni - Premiere: February 1, 1919

Penge / Money - Denmark 1915 - Directed by: Karl Mantzius - Written by: Carl Theodor Dreyer, from the novel 'L'Argent' by Emile Zola - Cast: Karl Mantzius, R. Schyberg, Svend Aggerholm - Produced by: Nordisk Films Kompagni - Premiere: December 31, 1915

This product was added to our catalog on Monday 26 September, 2011.

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