My first movie of the day was Ordet ("The Word"), written and directed by Carl Theodor Dreyer. Set in 1925 on a film in Denmark (the movie was made in 1955), it's about religious faith and tensions within a family and community; the youngest son wants to marry a woman of a different denomination, the wife of the unbelieving eldest son is pregnant, and the middle son believes he's Jesus Christ.
The story's dominated by long takes shaped by beautiful black-and-white cinematography. There's a kind of formal equivalent to the characters' faith and lives; stern, yet beautiful, and incredibly powerful if you're prepared to submit to its rhythm. It builds slowly and deliberately to an ending that shouldn't work but does. It was an excellent way to start the day. Next up, a cinematic musical statement from before the Jazz Age, and indeed before The Jazz Singer.
Matthew Surridge