32/27
Copenhagen 1919: A young working woman finds herself unemployed and pregnant. Meet Dagmar, who runs a clandestine adoption agency. A strong bond is formed, but her world is shattered when she discovers the shocking truth behind her work. Denmark’s official submission for the Best International Feature Film category at the 97th Academy Awards in 2025. It’s the final days of the Great War, and Karoline is barely surviving working in a factory. She believes she’s a widow because her husband disappeared during the war (even though Denmark didn’t actually take part in it), but she’s not receiving widow’s benefits because he wasn’t declared dead. A lot happens during the film, and I don’t want to give away spoilers, so I won’t delve into the plot, except that the marketing highlights something that isn’t as big a part of the film as some might expect. 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 take over an apartment by telling them they could have running water for two full hours a day (from ten to noon, which might not be a big deal. selling because most people would be working those hours)? When was the last time drug use from the era so candidly depicted? What Dagmar does was also relatively common at the time, although I would venture that the trend was on the decline at the time and didn’t happen as much as it used to. I actually would have liked the film more if the marketing had been different and Dagmar hadn’t been mentioned, because it set expectations. While Dagmar is a 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 when I saw the name Dagmar Overby on a door if I hadn’t known beforehand that this real-life person was used in the film. (It should be noted that the film is inspired by real-life events rather than based on them, so it tries to keep some distance from the real Dagmar.) I think some viewers will have a hard time sympathizing 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’s been given won’t be in vain in this world, we still understand why she gives it up. I love the look of the film. It’s in black and white and the entire town seems decrepit and barely holding on. It reminds us of the lack of concern for the welfare or even contempt for the working poor. Have things really changed that much? The period described took place over a century ago, but the concept of female bodily autonomy is again under constant attack. Of course, all art is in some way a mirror of the period in which it was made, but it seems easier to see the similarities here.