Photo: Erling Mandelmann / CC BY-SA 3.0 (source: Wikimedia Commons)
My Take
Carl Theodor Dreyer is, for me, one of cinema's true high priests. The Passion of Joan of Arc is still one of the most overwhelming films I have ever sat through, those enormous close-ups of Falconetti's face hollow you out. Dreyer worked slowly and rarely, and you feel that austerity in every frame: the spiritual weight of Ordet, the dread of Vampyr, the stillness of Gertrud. He won the Golden Lion at Venice in 1955 for Ordet, but awards almost feel beside the point. This is a Danish master who treated film as something close to prayer, and it shows.
Overview
Carl Theodor Dreyer (Danish: [ˈkʰɑˀl ˈtsʰe̝ːotɒ ˈtʁɑjˀɐ]; 3 February 1889 – 20 March 1968), commonly known as Carl Th. Dreyer, was a Danish film director and screenwriter. Widely considered one of the greatest filmmakers in history, his movies are noted for emotional austerity and slow, stately pacing, frequent themes of social intolerance, the inseparability of fate and death, and the power of evil in earthly life.
Summary adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
1. Profile
- Name (English)
- Carl Theodor Dreyer
- Name (Japanese)
- カール・テオドア・ドライヤー
- Reading
- かーる・ておどあ・どらいやー
- Born
- February 3, 1889 – March 20, 1968
- Zodiac / Chinese zodiac
- Aquarius / Ox
- Origin
- Copenhagen, Denmark
- Blood type
- Private
- Height
- Private
- Agency
- Private
- Occupation
- film director / screenwriter / film editor / director / filmmaker
2. Background
- Elementary school
- Private
- Junior high
- Private
- High school
- Private
- University
- Private
Awards & achievements
- 1955 Golden Lion
3. Relationships
- Spouse
- Private
- Children
- Private
- Parents
- Private
- Siblings
- Private
4. Personality
Motto
Private
6. Links
Film director — see all → · Screenwriter — see all → · More people from Denmark →
7. About this entry
Tags
- Last updated
- 2026-06-02
Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public items are marked "Private / Unknown". English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.