Victor Frandsen is a domestic tyrant. His wife Ida has to work as a slave for him and the rest of the family. She rises early to prepare everything for the day, she toils all day long, and she is often up also in the night, doing some sewing to earn extra money for the household.

Dreyer is one of the greats in silent cinema, both in his homeland and internationally. His greatest achievement is probably "Joan of Arc" and many have appreciated "Vampyr". This film came a few years earlier, but is every bit as good in its own way (and with its release on Criterion, it has never looked better).

The Danes are not typically known for their role in cinema history, but Dreyer was an undeniable force in the 1920s If nothing else, he inspired Bergman, who was probably the greatest Scandinavian director of all time.

Before I begin, I must confess that I am not eternally in awe at the genius of the director, Dreyer. While he has an absolutely amazing reputation, several of his more famous films have left me a bit flat. So it was a very welcome thing when I watched this more conventional and entertaining film--after his vampire film and the other about Joan of Arc, I was really, really looking forward to something lighter in mood. This film was exactly what I had in mind. This is a pretty ordinary domestic comedy for Dreyer. I don't say ordinary in a bad sense, but that the film felt more approachable and designed for the common person in the audience instead of being an obsessively-made art film (which he was famous for making). Okay, now that I probably have insulted all the Dreyer fans out there, I'll get on the heart of my review.

This is the tale of an over-worked and completely unappreciated housewife. In so many ways, she tries so hard so be the perfect wife but the cad of a husband can do nothing but criticize and berate her as well as be harsh towards the kids. And, the wife being a "co-dependent" (a nice modern psychobabble word, huh?), she thinks all she needs to do is try even harder and she makes excuse after excuse for the jerk. This seems to be a problem without a solution until the husband's old nanny comes to the home and sees how frazzled the wife is and how the hubby is a selfish spoiled brat. "Super-nanny" comes to the rescue--getting the wife out of the house and to a sanitarium for a rest. And, with the nanny back in charge, the spoiled guy slowly starts to realize just how good he had it--as he no longer is allowed to bully and browbeat to get his way.

The film is mildly funny, but is meant more as social commentary. In some ways it's pretty effective, but at times it is also kind of heavy-handed. Also, the film says things like "all men are that way" and "women do three times the work of men" and so it seems like the pro-feminist message is just a little too much at times. Instead of presenting a balanced view and showing how both men and women work hard and deserve respect, that men are like big babies and women are the backbone of every family. While this is definitely true of the family in this film, the film is itself perpetuating a stereotype. This can easily be forgiven, as in the 1920s, women were so much more under-appreciated, so it isn't like it irritated me--it just tended to occasionally use hyperbole and overstate things to drive the point home--again and again and again--making the film a tad heavy-handed. My advice is to ignore the excesses and just enjoy good film-making and entertainment.

"We men are such fools!" proclaims former master of the house Viktor, and you can't help but feel a sliver of guilt as he silently utters those words. That's the timeless universality of film, I suppose: a Danish movie made over 80 years ago is still relevant today.

This was my first Dreyer, and it is quite a light offering considering the man's weighty reputation. It's a social drama with a patently feminist message delivered with a typically heavy hand (by today's standards). Johannes Meyer is Viktor, the decent man turned into a brute by the failure of his business who doesn't realise just how much he takes his long-suffering wife Ida (Astrid Holm) for granted. Fortunately for Ida, Viktor's curmudgeonly former nanny (Mathilde Neilsen), takes control of the situation by packing the frazzled Ida off to a sanatorium so that she can sort Viktor out.

The film drags for the first half-hour as the daily ritual of the Frandsen family is established. Let's face it, there's little of interest in watching people polishing shoes and preparing breakfast, but things get a little more interesting once Nanny takes charge. It's message is a bit too sweeping (although all us men are probably guilty to some degree) and a little too simplistic in its treatment and resolution, but there's plenty on the screen to demonstrate Dreyer's talent as a director - although some symbolism (caged birds, for example) must have been overused even by 1925. A decent enough film, worth watching despite its mundane setting.