Henrik Malberg

In the slow conversations of Ordet (1955), Henrik Malberg makes us watch for the response that a speech cannot supply. His Morten Borgen is an imposing rural patriarch, played with a calm that makes the long exchanges worth attending to. The film gives us time to look past his authority and notice his responses to others. We rate him highly here, under Carl Theodor Dreyer, who found a quieter use for his theatrical strength. The performance asks for patience without always making that patience easy.

Malberg brought a long stage career to the screen, with Holberg’s folk characters, especially Jeppe, central to his work. His film work began in 1910 and consisted largely of supporting and character parts in silent and early sound films. As Søren Quist in Præsten i Vejlby (1931), he had a leading role, but his acting still carried the imposing theatrical manner that could limit him on screen. Dreyer coached him towards a more subdued style for Ordet. Malberg was already in his eighties.

Dreyer’s coaching leaves plenty of formality intact. Alongside Emil Hass Christensen as Mikkel Borgen and Preben Lerdorff Rye as Johannes Borgen, Malberg makes little concession to conversational ease. The three performances give the discussions different kinds of urgency, and the long exchanges let us look for feelings the words cannot quite settle. We were moved by Malberg here because Dreyer gives his face time to matter when the speeches have begun to wear us down. That is a particular achievement in a film which asks us to spend so much time listening.

There is no need to pretend that every trace of the stage has been removed. Malberg’s delivery remains formal enough to make the opening adjustment difficult, and his presence cannot solve every problem posed by a lengthy speech. What works is the opportunity to study him without the film rushing towards the next exchange. Start with Ordet, but give Malberg more time than a brisk family drama would ask.