35/48
Copenhagen 1919: A young worker finds herself unemployed and pregnant. She meets Dagmar, who runs an underground adoption agency. A strong relationship grows stronger, but her world is shattered when she discovers the shocking truth behind her work. Denmark’s official submission for “Best International Feature Film”. The category for the 97th Academy Awards in 2025. It is the last days of the Great War, and Karoline is barely surviving in a factory. She believes herself to be a widow, as her husband disappeared during the war (even though Denmark was not really involved), but she is not receiving widow’s benefits because she is not on the list of the dead. A lot happens during the film. and I don’t want to get into spoilers, so I won’t go into the plot in depth, except that the marketing emphasizes something that doesn’t play as big a role in the film as one might. While this gets a lot of attention in the second half of the film, for me the real value of the film is the sense of reality surrounding Karoline’s story. When was the last time someone in a film tried to convince a potential tenant to rent an apartment by saying they could have running water for two full hours a day (from ten to noon, which might not be a big selling point, since most people would be working during those hours)? When was the last time the rampant drug use of the era was depicted so honestly? Even what Dagmar does was relatively commonplace at the time, although I would venture to say that the trend is now on the decline and it doesn’t happen as much as it used to. In fact, I might have enjoyed the film a lot more if the marketing had been different and Dagmar wasn’t raised to be expected. Although Dagmar is the main character, the film is clearly about Karoline and her struggles. On the other hand, it’s hard to say how I would have felt if I had seen the name Dagmar Overby on a door if I hadn’t known in advance that this real person was being used in the film. (It should be noted that the film is inspired by, not based on, real events, so they try to keep some distance from the real Dagmar). I feel like some audiences will have a hard time empathizing with Karoline, as she sometimes seems to make the right decision a little too late. At the same time, there’s not much time or opportunity for ethics when you’re just trying to survive in a world where the odds are stacked against you. On the other hand, while we know that the hope she gets is not in vain in this world, we still understand why she gives in. I like the look of the film. It’s black and white, and the entire city looks run down and barely holding on. It reminds us of the lack of interest, or even contempt, for the welfare of the working poor. Have things really changed that much? The time depicted was over a century ago, but the concept of female bodily autonomy is once again under constant attack. Of course, all art is in some way a reflection of its time, but it seems easier to see the similarities here.
