Gertrud
Carl Theodor Dreyer, 1964, 116 min
Danish with English subtitles

Dreyer’s final film, Gertrud, is last in a run of masterpieces. A portrait of a woman in crisis, the film follows Gertrud Kanning (a marvelous Nina Pens Rode), a former opera singer looking for a way out of her loveless marriage to a neglectful man enraptured with his career as a lawyer. Strong-willed, independent Gertrud confronts commitment and hard choices as she battles a repressive Christian society and holds out for the possibility of real love. Widely considered one of the greatest films ever made, “Its meaning hinges partially on the refusal or inability to compromise and what this implies over the range of an entire life. It’s exquisite, unbearable, and unforgettable.” – Jonathan Rosenbaum

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Part of our tribute to Scott Walker