Afgrunden (1910/I)

Director:

Urban Gad

Writer:

Urban Gad (writer)

Release Date:

18 April 1912 (USA)

Genre:

Short | Drama

Plot:

Magda meets her fiancé and he invites her to visit him and his parents. While visiting them, a circus...

Plot Keywords:

Dance | Tram | Theater | Actress | Letter

Cast

Asta Nielsen	...	Magda Vang
Robert Dinesen	...	Knud Svane, Magda's fiancé
Poul Reumert	...	Rudolf Stern, circus performer
Hans Neergard	...	Magda's Father, vicar
Emilie Sannom	...	Lilly d'Estrelle, singer
Oscar Stribolt	...	Waiter
Arne Weel	...	Guest in garden
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Hulda Didrichsen	...	Woman, married to the vicar
Johannes Fønss	...	Guest in garden

Also Known As:

Gøglerblod (Denmark) (working title)
The Abyss
The Woman Always Pays (USA)
Woman Always Pays (USA)

Runtime:

Denmark:38 min | Denmark:37 min (16 fps) (2004 restored version)

Country:

USA | Denmark

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Silent | Silent

Certification:

Iceland:L

Company:

Independent Moving Pictures Co. of America (IMP)

Movie Connections:

Featured in Den talende muse - samtaler med Asta Nielsen (2003)

Danish Silent Film

This film was apparently very popular, sort of inaugurating an important, although often overlooked, period in film history, that of Danish silent film--at its height during the early 1910s. What I consider the best qualities of this era are not actually evident in this particular picture: that is, interesting lighting effects, use of mirrors as a self-referential device and impressive mise-en-scène. In 'The Abyss,' the framing is standard and extremely dated. There's one shot of an approaching train arriving at a station, a la the Lumière brothers' short, which I like to note only because there seem to be many such shots resembling those first films scattered throughout the early silent film era.

What 'The Abyss' does have is sensationalism, which is rather representative of 1910s Danish cinéma. The sex, including the dance, is part of this, as is "the bad woman" played by Asta Nielsen. And, as with most other such films I've seen, a circus must be involved. Alfred Lind, listed as the cinematographer of this film, helped further create the circus film genre with subsequent films, such as 'The Flying Circus' ('Den Flyvende cirkus') (1912). Moreover, the plotting in these types of films is nearly identical.

Besides being a notably early entry in sensational Danish circus films, 'The Abyss' also continues to receive some recognition as launching the screen career of Nielsen, who was an exceptionally popular international star, especially among German audiences. Her acting seems, compared to contemporaries, rather restrained, I suppose, thankfully forgoing much of the usual theatrics. Overall, 'The Abyss' might be worth seeing if you're interested in Nielsen or early Danish cinéma.

(Note: Even in the restored Danish Film Institute print, there is considerable deterioration in some scenes.)