Vampyr (EOTWS)

End Of The Week Shorts #15 extract: Vampyr (1932)

Though it has the tone of other Dreyer films, Vampyr is very different from the likes of Day Of Wrath, Ordet and The Passion Of Joan Of Arc. Driven not so much by religious themes, but mythology and legend, Vampyr is heavily plot-centric. However, there is a greater focus on aesthetics in this film, and in this regard it is a masterpiece. 

Dreyer then exhibits no minimalism with Vampyr, instead, he blends a pinch of expressionism with abstract and surreal narrative forms to produce a spectacle of ingenious camera movement and cinematography. This unfortunately distracted me from the story and narrative, which isn't as strong as Ordet or Day Of Wrath though seemingly has a lot to it, and so I'm left with little more to say other than that this is a tremendous first talkie from Dreyer and an uncharacteristic formal masterpiece.