Page - 178 - in JRFM - Journal Religion Film Media, Volume 06/01

Through Johannes and August, the series shows how the work and social status of a pastor have changed and the challenges with which a pastor is confronted: liv- ing a religious vocation in a pluralist, globalised and multicultural community is not easy. The search for new ways to encounter people is hard and requires tolerance and open-mindedness as well as an ability to compromise. And Where Are the Women? “Which sacrifices are you willing to make for your faith?” This is one of the recurring questions of the series. The male protagonists are not alone in having to respond to this question, for the central female figure, Elisabeth, is also forced to make choices. She has been the perfect pastor’s wife, supporting Johannes, silently enduring his unpredictable moods and keeping the family together (fig. 4), but then decides to end this farce. Elisabeth is not willing to accept Johannes’s behaviour any longer or to abandon Christian. She begins an affair with her Norwegian lodger, Liv (Yngvild Støen Grot- mol), who pays her the fond attention of which her egocentric husband is incapable. Fig. 4: A true idyll? The Krogh family at dinner: f.l.t.r. Christian (Simon Sears), Elisabeth (Ann Eleonora Jørgensen), Johannes (Lars Mikkelsen), August (Morten Hee Andersen) and his wife, Emilie (Louise Bernth) © Tine Harden  / Arte France. TV-Series Review: Herrens Veje | 177www.jrfm.eu 2020, 6/1, 172–179