My Only Great Passion : The Life and Films of Carl Th. Dreyer

In an industry that celebrates extravagance and showmanship, Danish film director Carl Th. Dreyer was a rarity, a man who guarded his privacy fiercely and believed that film provided a way to understand human nature by focusing on the individual person. Best known for his 1928 film The Passion of Joan of Arc, dominated by its emotionally harrowing close-ups of Joan during her trial, it was Dreyer who pioneered some of the seminal techniques of modern film, techniques that would later be made famous by better known contemporaries such as Sergei Eisenstein and D.W. Griffith. Now, in My Only Great Passion, the first full-length English language biography of Dreyer, Jean and Dale D. Drum restore his reputation to its rightful place. Based on extensive and exclusive interviews with both Dreyer and the people who worked with him—including personal correspondence dating back to 1952—this biography provides the most comprehensive critical examination to date of both Dreyer's life and his approach to filmmaking. A valuable resource for film critics and historians, those in the film industry, and university cinema departments, as well as anyone with an interest in Danish art and culture, My Only Great Passion provides long neglected insights into the man who first raised European film above the level of entertainment and placed it in the realm of art. In My Only Great Passion, the first full-length English language biography of Danish film director Carl Th. Dreyer and the latest edition in the Scarecrow Filmmakers Series, Jean and Dale D. Drum restore his reputation to its righful place. Based on extensive and exclusive interviews with both Dreyer and the people who worked with him -- including personal correspondence dating back to 1952 -- this biography provides the most comprehensive critical examination to date of both Dreyer's life and his approach to film-making. A valuable resource for film critics and hstorians, those in the film industry, and university cinema departments, as well as anyone with an interest in Danish art and culture, My Only Great Passion provides long neglected insights into the man who first raised European film above the level of entertainment and placed it in the realm of art. Cover 1 Title Page 6 Copyright Page 7 Dedication Page 8 Table of Contents 12 List of Illustrations 14 Preface 16 Introduction: A Stubbornness Wrapped Up in Mildness 22 Chapter 1. A Copenhagen Childhood 26 Chapter 2. Journalist and Airman 42 Chapter 3. Learning His Art and Craft 58 Chapter 4. Dreyer Goes Abroad 96 Chapter 5. Further Experiments 118 Chapter 6. First Real Success 136 Chapter 7. Greatness and Tragedy 146 Chapter 8. Film-Production Carl Dreyer 170 Chapter 9. Interregnum 186 Chapter 10. Two Films 220 Chapter 11. Work in a Smaller Mode 242 Chapter 12. Ordet 258 Chapter 13. The Last Film 282 Chapter 14. The End of a Dream 306 Filmography 340 Scripts 352 Bibliography 360 Index 362 About the Authors 366 "My Only Great Passion, the first full-length English language biography of Dreyer, is based on extensive and exclusive interviews with both Dreyer and people who worked with him. This biography provides the most comprehensive critical examination to date of both Dreyer's life and his approach to filmmaking. My Only Great Passion provides insights into the man who first raised European film above the level of entertainment and placed it in the realm of art."--BOOK JACKET.