Carl Theodor Dreyers Kurzfilm “De nåede færgen” [DK 1948], der bei uns wohl eher unter dem englischen Titel “They Caught the Ferry” bekannt sein dürfte.

[via: Bright Lights After Dark]

‘They Caught the Ferry’ (De nåede færgen, 1948, Denmark) directed by Carl Theodor Dreyer, one of the greatest directors in the history of cinema. This short movie is meant as a propaganda against fast driving. (In 1948 there where no speed limits in Denmark, and it began to be a problem.) Dryer’s script for this short subject was an adaptation of a story by Danish author Johannes V. Jensen , who won the Nobel Prize in 1944, several years before this film was made.

The concept for the film was the producer’s, not Dreyer’s. According to cameraman Jørgen Roos, Carl Theodor Dreyer suggested that they approach the Ministry of Justice to obtain a prisoner of war, condemned to be executed, and cast him as the driver of the film, on the condition that he would be freed if he survived the filming. Predictably, nothing came of this plan, and the filmmakers instead hired a professional motorcycle driver. Although this short has been widely praised and is considered a classic of its kind, Carl Theodor Dreyer had no interest in short subjects (including his own) and regarded projects like this simply as a way to support himself between features.