Carl Theodor Dreyer's second sound film (after 1932's Vampyr) and his first after nearly a decade of inactivity, Vredens Dag was released during the height of the Nazi occupation of Denmark and, due to its strong political content, Dreyer was forced to flee to Sweden immediately after making it. Based on a Norwegian play by Hans Wiers-Jenssen, the film, set in 17th century Denmark, deals with the mysterious transgression of a young woman, the second wife of a self-ascetic pastor who falls in love with the minister's son from his first marriage, wishes aloud for her husband's death, and is accused of witchcraft and killed after he dies of a stroke. Though it's clearly critical of the intolerance it depicts, the movie is not simply a treatise on the hypocrisy of witch hunts. Vredens Dag uses the tantalizing mystery at the center of the story to explore the place where societal and individual responsibilities mix and become inseparable. All of Dreyer's stylistic trademarks are in place: an extreme austerity in the compositions, an emphasis on the contrast between black and white, an abundance of slow tracking shots, and a judicious use of extreme close-ups. The film moves with Dreyer's customary deliberate pace, but nevertheless it's one of his most accessible films. Lead actress Lisbeth Movin's spectacular final moments, as she accepts her fate, bring to mind the legendary Maria Falconetti in Dreyer's early masterpiece, La Passion de Jeanne d'Arc.