Lester May
Carl Th. Dreyer's beautiful documentary uses no words to show different aspects of this beautiful bridge in Denmark. It is one of over a dozen state-commissioned documentary shorts made by the famous director.The Storstrom Bridge was built between 1933-37 to the designs of Anker Engelund with construction under the direction of civil engineer Guy Anson Maunsell.Storstrom Bridge connects the island of Sjaelland (Zealand) at Vordingborg to the smaller island of Falster to the south. Some two miles long (3199 metres or 3520 yards), at the time it was built it was the longest bridge in Europe.It is an arch bridge with a suspended deck with both a road and railroad. The reinforced concrete central section was built on shore and floated out to be sunk in position.Carl Dreyer shows the bridge from afar and in close up, from the air and from a ship in the Storstrom, with trains, vehicles, cyclists and a fisherman using the bridge.This is a delightful short and Dreyer lets the viewer imagine being a sightseer in silent awe of this beautiful structure.For some more information about the bridge, and photographs, visit http://en.structurae.de/structures/data/index.cfm?ID=s0004540. This documentary is available on DVD, as an extra, on the British Film Institute's 2006 release of Dreyer's classic feature film "Ordet" (1955).
