Gertrud

Gertrud waves from the door. Her friend waves back. Gertrud steps back into her room and shuts the door. The camera tracks back and holds. The door to Gertrud's room remains shut. She will not see her friend again. She has told him love is everything. Gertrud is brave, but lonely and tragic in her fortitude.

How emotionally present the characters seem, how luminous. Dreyer achieves this by internalising the performances, using prolonged takes and by isolating the action, which is often staged in almost neutral settings.

The door remains shut. Gertrud is somewhere within. A simple wooden stand sits to the left of the door. A fitting prop for this austere tableau. It is simple, even archaic. We stand in a universal realm. The shot of the door is held for some time. Church bells are heard. Dreyer is making sure we understand. This scene depicts an entombment.