Le Giornate del Cinema Muto 2006 Sommario / Contents

mortale a cavallo sotto la cupola del circo], 1912) diede alla Nordisk
uno dei suoi maggiori successi internazionali. Il regista e la star
ottennero un altro grande trionfo introducendo la commedia
sofisticata nel cinema danese con Den staerkeste ([Il più forte], 1912),
basato a grandi linee su La bisbetica domata. Con gli anni ’20, le sorti
artistiche di Schnedler-Sørensen parvero declinare, insieme con quelle
del cinema danese. Egli continuò comunque a dirigere fino al 1927,
senza però mai raggiungere il successo di prima. – DAVID ROBINSON
“Two young officers (one rich and privileged, the other a poor but brilliant
inventor) vie for the hand of a government minister’s daughter. Their rivalry
escalates, culminating in a breathtaking finale in which the demonstration
of the inventor’s new anti-aircraft weapon narrowly escapes disaster at the
hands of his thwarted rival” (The LUMIERE PROJECT, 1996, p. 103).
This is a restoration of a hitherto virtually unknown film. In 1912-13 its
director Eduard Schnedler-Sørensen (1886-1947) was at the peak of his
career as an outstanding figure in Danish production, with a prolific output
of a dozen or more films a year. He had begun his film career in 1908 as
cameraman to the pioneer filmmaker Peter Elfelt, and the following year
joined the newly formed Fotorama Company. He was quickly promoted to
director, and his first assignment, Den Lille Hornblæser (The Little Bugler;
1909), in which he also acted, enjoyed considerable popularity. In 1911 he
joined Nordisk, and the triumph of one of his first films there, Bedgraget i
døden / Dr. Gar-el-Hama I (English-language title: A Dead Man’s Child),
won him the privilege of directing the company’s major star, Valdemar
Psilander.Their film Dødsspring til Hest fra Cirkuskuplen (US: The Great
Circus Catastrophe; 1912) gave Nordisk one of its biggest international
successes. Director and star enjoyed another major hit when they
introduced sophisticated comedy into Danish cinema with Den staerkeste
(US: Conquered; or,The Madcap Countess; 1912), loosely based on The
Taming of the Shrew. With the 1920s, Schnedler-Sørensen’s artistic
fortunes seemed to decline along with those of the Danish cinema as a
whole, though he continued to direct, without recapturing his earlier
distinction, until 1927. – DAVID ROBINSON
LAVINEN [La valanga / The Avalanche] (The Rocks of Life /
Shadow Plays) (Nordisk Films Kompagni, DK 1920)
Regia/dir: Emanuel Gregers; scen: Carl Gandrup, Emanuel Gregers;
f./ph: Hans Vaagø; cast: Jon Iversen (Poul Lindorph), Bodil Ipsen (Maria
Lindorph), Arne Weel (loro figlio/their son), Johannes Meyer (Asp);
première: 20.4.1920; 35mm, 1807 m., 88’ (18 fps), Danish Film Institute.
Copia del/Print from 1957.
Didascalie in danese / Danish intertitles.
Maria Lindorph, moglie del pubblico ministero appena entrato in
carica, è preoccupata per il ritorno nella capitale dopo molti anni
trascorsi in provincia: teme infatti di incontrarvi Asp, il direttore di un
quotidiano, che si muove nei circoli dell’alta società. La paura che possa
distruggere la sua felicità la porta a rievocare il suo passato: dopo la
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morte della madre, ha vissuto con il severo padre e la sua crudele
governante. I suoi incontri segreti con il giovane studente Poul
Lindorph vengono scoperti, e lei viene buttata fuori di casa. Poul, anche
lui orfano, perde la rendita per via della loro “storia”. In breve si
ritrovano a fare la fame, e il padre di lei si rifiuta di aiutarli. Disperata,
Maria diventa segretamente l’amante del sinistro Asp, per poi lasciarlo
quando Poul completa i suoi studi. Molti anni dopo, le sue paure si
concretizzano: ad un ballo incontra di nuovo Asp, immediatamente
colto da un intenso desiderio di farla ancora sua, che minaccia di
svelare il suo vergognoso passato al marito. Poco dopo Asp viene
trovato morto; dell’assassinio è sospettata la sua giovane amante. Al
processo, Lindorph, come pubblico ministero, fa condannare la ragazza.
Solo a questo punto, Maria confessa di essere stata lei ad assassinare
Asp. Poul, venuto a sapere del suo sacrificio, la perdona.
Bodil Ipsen, la star di Lavinen, generalmente considerata la più grande
attrice teatrale danese della sua generazione, durante gli anni ’40
divenne anche una regista cinematografica di grande successo. Questo
è il migliore dei quattro film muti da lei girati e la sua interpretazione
è interessante da seguire, anche se la sua corporatura non le giova in
questo melodramma piuttosto convenzionale. Il film ha (come
Præsidenten di Dreyer, uscito due mesi prima) una struttura a flashback
assai elaborata. La regia è dell’affidabile ma prosaico Emanuel Gregers,
la cui carriera alla Nordisk durò fino al 1945. – CASPER TYBJERG
Maria Lindorph, wife of the newly appointed state prosecutor, is worried
about having to return to the capital after many years in the provinces. She
is afraid to meet Asp, a newspaper editor who moves in high-society circles.
Her fears that he may destroy her happiness cause her to recall her past:
after her mother’s death, she lived with her strict father and his cruel
housekeeper. Her secret meetings with Poul Lindorph, a young student, are
discovered, and she is thrown out of her home. Poul, himself an orphan,
loses his allowance because of their “affair”. Soon they are starving, and
her father refuses to help. In desperation, Maria secretly becomes the
mistress of the sinister Asp, but when Poul completes his studies, she breaks
off with him. Many years later, her fears are realized: at a ball, she meets
Asp again, and he is immediately seized with an intense desire to possess
her again. He threatens to expose her shameful past to her husband. Soon
after, Asp is found dead, and his young mistress is suspected of murder. At
her trial, Lindorph is the prosecutor, and he gets the girl convicted of
murder. Only then does Maria confess that she was the one who murdered
Asp.When Poul learns the truth of her sacrifice, he forgives her.
Bodil Ipsen, the star of Lavinen, was commonly considered the greatest
Danish stage actress of her generation, and during the 1940s she also
became a very successful film director.This picture is the best of the four
silent films she made, and her performance is interesting to watch, even
if her big, sturdily-built frame works against her in this fairly conventional
melodrama. It has (like Dreyer’s Præsidenten, released two months
earlier) an extremely elaborate flashback structure. It is directed by the
dependable but uninspired Emanuel Gregers, whose career at Nordisk
lasted until 1945. – CASPER TYBJERG
NORDISK