Kirsten Andreasen

In a Danish village in the early 1600s, a young woman named Anne, whose mother was thought to be a witch, develops sympathy toward an old woman, Marte, who is accused of witchcraft. The intervention of Anne's older but kindly husband, Pastor Absalon saved her mother -- but now, urged on by his overbearing mother, he refuses to help Marte. When Absalon's son returns home and is attracted to Anne, it's a matter of time before her family destiny catches up with her.

The three sons of devout Danish farmer Morten have widely disparate religious beliefs. Youngest son Anders shares his father's religion, but eldest son Mikkel has lost his faith, while middle child Johannes has become delusional and proclaims that he is Jesus Christ himself. When Mikkel's wife, Inger goes into a difficult childbirth, everyone's beliefs are put to the test.

Honor, morality and the "right" outlook on life are paramount. And these concepts were by no means something to be made fun of, which can be somewhat annoying when you remember that this film is based on the English play "Bank Holiday", which took a good English fart on virtues and morality. Inger Holst is a nursing student who, at a party, meets the unreal Jørgen Frandsen, who invites her to a "festive night" one weekend at a hotel in Tisvilde. However, a tragic incident occurs at the hospital where she works. The incident involves the young widower, engineer Berg, whom she has come to know as a fine, real and sympathetic person. Inger's compassion makes her offer to give up her weekend trip and stay with him.

Ditte is born out of wedlock and lives as a young girl with her old beloved grandmother. As an illegitimate child she is teased in school and more than anything in the world she wants a father. When steady - utterly reliable - herring dealer Lars Petter shows up and tells her that he is marrying Ditte's mother, the little girl is very happy. Now Ditte must take care of three new sisters and brothers but gets nothing but complaints from her ungrateful, selfish mother. But the little girl finds consolation and support in both her sisters and brothers and Lars Petter.

Consul Bergholtz is ill and will probably die soon. Family members gather at her bedside, each with the expectation of receiving a share of the impending inheritance. Among the heirs are her sons, the alcoholic editor Oscar and the homosexual lecturer Ejnar, as well as their pretty and recently divorced sister Esther. But when her grandson, the cunning and unscrupulous businessman Kurt, shows up, the intrigues are stoked. Kurt couldn't care less about good manners and cultural veneer; he simply takes what he wants.

When a young woman falls in love with a gown in a shop window it leads to adventure and romance exceeding even her own vivid imagination.

One day, many parents received a letter from the school, with the following wording: "To the parents! It is you who are concerned - It is you to whom I want to speak about the responsibility of parents towards their children, so I ask you to come to the Odd Fellow Palace on Friday the 22nd at 8 pm and hear what I have to say to you."

The people depicted in the film have grown up from the Jutland soil and are marked by its toughness, centuries of struggle with the fabled heath, which in its lonely majesty seems to brood over great secrets that it is most reluctant to let go of. The struggle is hard and unspeakably bitter for the frugal Jutland heath farmer, and how many destinies are not buried under the silent monument of the heath?