48/35
She meets Dagmar, who runs an underground adoption agency
Plot
Copenhagen 1919: A young factory worker finds herself unemployed and pregnant. A strong bond forms, but her world is shattered when she discovers the shocking truth behind her job. Official Danish submission for the “Best International Feature Film” category at the 97th Academy Awards in 2025. It’s the last days of the Great War and Karoline is barely surviving working in a factory.
When was the rampant drug use of the time portrayed so candidly?
She believes herself to be a widow since her husband disappeared during the war (even though Denmark didn’t actually participate), but she doesn’t qualify for widows’ benefits because he’s not listed as dead. There’s a lot going on during the film and I don’t want to get into spoilers, so I won’t go into too much detail about the plot, except that the marketing is emphasizing something that isn’t as big a part of the film as you might expect. The second half of the film, for me, the real value of the film is the sense of reality around Karoline’s story. When was the last time someone in a film tried to convince a potential tenant to occupy an apartment by telling them that they could have running water for two full hours a day (from ten to noon, which may not be much of a selling point since most people would be working during those hours)?
While Dagmar is a major character, the film is clearly about Karoline and her struggles
Even what Dagmar does was relatively common at the time, although I would venture to guess that the trend was on the decline by then and it wasn’t happening as much as it used to. In fact, I might have enjoyed the film more if the marketing had been different and Dagmar hadn’t been elevated, as that created expectations. On the other hand, it’s hard to say how I would have felt seeing Dagmar Overby’s name on a door if I hadn’t known in advance that this real person was being used in the film. (It’s worth noting that the film is inspired by real events rather than based on them, so they try to maintain some distance from the real Dagmar.) I think some audiences will have a hard time sympathizing with Karoline, as she sometimes seems to make the right decision a little too late.
I like the look of the film
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, even though we know that the hope she’s given wouldn’t do any good in this world, we still understand why she gives in to it. It’s black and white, and the whole town seems decrepit and struggling to hold together. It reminds us of the lack of concern for, or even contempt for, the welfare of the working poor.
Have things really changed that much?
The era depicted occurred over a century ago, but the concept of female bodily autonomy is under constant attack again. Of course, all art is in some way a mirror of the era in which it was created, but it just seems easier to see the similarities here.
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