Carl Theodore Dreyer requires patience but I have never been disappointed. This tale of love between two men in 1924 couldn't have been done in the U.S. There is a touch of Of Human Bondage here. The young male model is used by the master, both as a subject and as a lover, and then he turns the tables on him, using his affection for his own greedy uses. The artist goes into a slump while the kid is living the high life on the old guy's money. Michael is a selfish little weasel who has no talent and leaves a path of human destruction in his wake.
