For Whom the Bell Tolls Articles

Ingrid Bergman, Gary Cooper in Sam Wood's For Whom the Bell Tolls (top); "The Last Supper" scene in Luis Buñuel's Viridiana (middle); Marlon Brando, Maria Schneider in Bernardo Bertolucci's Last Tango in Paris (bottom) The ludicrous censors at the Motion Picture Association of America and their precursors at the Production Code Office have always had counterparts in other countries. Whether for political, religious, social, economic, [...]

Set in a 17th-century Danish village, Carl Theodor Dreyer's masterful Vredens dag / Day of Wrath is a stark, but deeply felt indictment against religious fanaticism and intolerance. Moving performances by ingénue Lisbeth Modin and accused witch Anna Svierkier add a touch of humanity to the horrors shown on screen. It is not a coincidence that Vredens Dag was made in 1943, a time when [...]