CARL TH. DREYER: THE PRESIDENT (PRÆSIDENTEN)
This DVD edition is a restoration of Carl Th. Dreyer’s first feature film as director. Already in his debut we are witnesses to the thematic mainstay of most of his later films: the mother left to her own destiny with her illegitimate child. In this film the man is haunted by guilt, for which he is not allowed to repent.
The source of this restoration, supervised by film historian Marguerite Engberg in 1999, is the original nitrate negative. Most silent films were assembled in positive form, since the negative was processed according to the tinting designed for the scenes (amber for daylight, blue for night and red for fire.) The scan has been performed from a new tinted 35 mm print produced from the restored duplicate negative in continuity order.
This DVD presents a HD transfer from a restored duplication negative, and represents the most complete version of the film available.
Carl Th. Dreyer
THE PRESIDENT (PRÆSIDENTEN) had its world premiere in Sweden in February 1919. It premiered in Denmark at the Panoptikon Theatre in Copenhagen on February 9, 1920.
Included as a bonus feature is a fragment of the 1915 film MONEY (PENGE), based on Zola’s L'Argent and scripted by Dreyer.
All Carl Th. Dreyer titles distributed by GME
Contents
Format: DVD-PAL / Region 0
(No Regional Code)
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THE PRESIDENT (PRÆSIDENTEN)
(Denmark, 1919)
Director: Carl Th. Dreyer
Screenplay: Carl Th. Dreyer, from a novel by Karl Emil Franzos
Cinematography: Hans Vaagø
Production Company: Nordisk Films Kompagni
Cast: Halvard Hof, Elith Pio, Carl Meyer, Jacoba Jessen, Olga Raphael-Linden, Betty Kirkeby & Jon Iversen
• 89 minutes
• B&W, Tinted
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Bonus Material
MONEY (PENGE) (Fragment)
(Denmark 1915)
Director: Karl Mantzius
Screeplay: Carl Theodor Dreyer, from the novel L'Argent by Emile Zola
Cast: Karl Mantzius, R. Schyberg & Svend Aggerholm
Produced by: Nordisk Films Kompagni
• 1 minute
• B&W
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Total Running Time: 01:30:00
Language: Combined Danish & English intertitles, English subtitles
Musical Score: Ronen Thalmay
Published By: Danish Film Institute
Institutional Price: $250 (plus shipping).
To order call: 212.280.8654 or click here for information on ordering by fax, e-mail or post.