ASTA NIELSEN: THE ABYSS (AFGRUNDEN) / THE BALLET DANCER (BALLETDANSERINDEN) / THE BLACK DREAM (DEN SORTE DRØM) / TOWARDS THE LIGHT (MOD LYSET)
Asta Nielsen is probably the greatest Danish film star. However, she only starred in four Danish films, all of which are on this DVD, from her breathtaking appearance in THE ABYSS (1910) to Holger-Madsen’s moral tale TOWARDS THE LIGHT (1919). Most of Asta Nielsen’s career took place in Germany where she starred in almost seventy films in the period 1911-1932. In the Danish films she starred with the greatest Danish male protagonists of the period: Poul Reumert, Valdemar Psilander and Alf Blütecher, as she was also to star with the greatest German stars in her German production. THE ABYSS is regarded by many as not only the important debut of Asta Nielsen, but also the film that marks the early 1910’s as the golden age of Danish cinema with its feature length erotically charged melodramas. THE ABYSS is here presented in a digitally restored version with the inclusion of the Swedish censorship outtakes, dramatically improving the quality of the central erotic dance sequence.
Asta Nielsen with writer/director Urban Gad
SPECIAL MENTION
Contents
Format: DVD-PAL / Region 0
(No Regional Code)
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THE ABYSS (AFGRUNDEN)
(Denmark, 1910)
Director: Urban Gad
Screenplay: Urban Gad
Cinematography: Alfred Lind
Production Company: Kosmorama
Cast: Asta Nielsen, Poul Reumert, Hans Neergaard, Robert Dinesen, Emilie Sannom & Oscar Stribolt
• 35 minutes
• B&W
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THE BALLET DANCER (BALLETDANSERINDEN)
(Denmark, 1911)
Director: August Blom
Screenplay: Alfred Kjerulf. Production
Cinematography: Axel Graatkjær
Company: Nordisk Films Kompagni
Cast: Asta Nielsen, Valdemar Psilander, Johannes Poulsen, Valdemar Møller, Karen Lund & Emilie Sannom
• 45 minutes
• B&W
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THE BLACK DREAM (DEN SORTE DRØM)
(Denmark, 1911)
Director: Urban Gad
Screenplay: Urban Gad
Cinematography: Adam Johansen
Production Company: Fotorama
Cast: Asta Nielsen, Valdemar Psilander, Gunnar Helsengren, Ellen Holm, Peter Fjelstrup & Ellen Feldmann
• 56 minutes
• B&W
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TOWARDS THE LIGHT (MOD LYSET)
(Denmark, 1919)
Director: Holger-Madsen
Screenplay: Holger-Madsen
Cinematography: Sophus Wangøe
Production Company: Nordisk Films Kompagni
Cast: Asta Nielsen, Augusta Blad, Alf Blütecher, Frederik Jacobsen, Anton de Verdier, Nicolai Neiiendam, Elith Pio & Astrid Holm
• 55 minutes
• B&W
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Total Running Time: 03:10:00
Language: Danish intertitles, English subtitles
Musical Score: Ronen Thalmay
Published By: Danish Film Institute
Institutional Price: $250 (plus shipping).
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