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Afgrunden (The Abyss)

Director: Urban Gad
Year: 1910
Runtime: 0:38
Source: Youtube

The list begins with this short Danish work, the first film starring Asta Nielsen, who (according to Wikipedia) would become one of the first international movie stars, well known for playing troubled yet sympathetic women.  (It was directed by her first husband.)

The scene that kick-started that fame, and also the sole reason this movie is still remembered, occurs late in the movie, when her character Magda is at the bottom of the titular abyss.  Dancing on stage for money with her bohemian lover, she gives an arresting performance that was extremely risque at the time.  Watching it today, it's still extremely mesmerizing in its understatedness; she carries the whole thing with ever-so-slight movements of her hips, refusing to look at the man she's pretended to tie up with a rope.  It's a powerful cinematic moment, and absolutely worth seeing.

However, the film has other moments that stick out to me as well.  I'm a big fan of the first scene, where Magda meets a suitor on a tram.  The naturalness of the encounter, the way that both men around her quickly reach down out of politeness when she drops a package - it's very endearing.  Although the plot is shallowly moralistic, and the tragic ending rang a bit hollow to me, I think Nielsen's performance redeems this movie.  I don't think she will reappear on this list, but I am curious to learn more about her.





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