Shoot (Day of wrath)

The shoot was preceded by drawn-out negotiations with Nordisk Films Kompagni in Valby. Nordisk’s management had been considering the project, known as Anne Pedersdotter, for almost a year, until the negotiations broke down in September 1942. Nordisk generally was enormously distrustful of Dreyer, even though he was directing the short film Good Mothers for the studio while the negotiations were in progress to prove that he could stick to a budget and follow a production schedule. The minutes of a meeting of 11 September 1942 pull no punches: "the reason for shelving 'Day of Wrath' should mainly be found in Dreyer’s personality; he is as singularly peculiar as in the silent film days, losing himself in petty details – none of us no longer has any faith that he can do anything but an experimental film as odd and absurd as his last silent." Dreyer then began negotiating with Palladium chief Tage Nielsen, who agreed to take over the project.

Shooting began in April 1943 at Palladium’s studio in Hellerup. The exterior scenes were shot at the Danish Open Air Museum in Brede, and in Vordingborg. Ads were placed in the daily press for "men with full beards" to be used as extras in the pyre scene. The shoot wrapped around 1 July.

According to the film’s producer, Palladium chief Tage Nielsen, Day of Wrath cost 250,000 kroner to make. In comparison, the cost of a "normal production" was 150,000 to 200,000 kroner.


By Lisbeth Richter Larsen | 03. June