In my opinion there are movies before "Afgrunden", then there are movies after "Afgrunden".
Up to 1909, movies were mostly trick films, with limited story-telling and exaggerated film acting. Then came "Afgrunden". Not only is the theme more mature than earlier films, it is also beautifully shot (a quality evident in much of Nordic cinema) and then there is the extraordinary performance of Asta Nielsen who became an instant house-hold name (my ex-wife's grand-mother, born in Australia in 1913 was named after her!) The quality of cinema rapidly improved from 1910 onwards and "Afgrunden" was the turning point.
Asta Nielsen graced and livened many films over the remaining Silent Period (working mostly in Germany) and her natural, believable performances raised the bar in film acting by several notches. She became the new standard!
Director Urban Gad is not as well known as he should be but this film and "The Black Dream", made the following year, indicate he should be re-evaluated.
Up to 1909, movies were mostly trick films, with limited story-telling and exaggerated film acting. Then came "Afgrunden". Not only is the theme more mature than earlier films, it is also beautifully shot (a quality evident in much of Nordic cinema) and then there is the extraordinary performance of Asta Nielsen who became an instant house-hold name (my ex-wife's grand-mother, born in Australia in 1913 was named after her!) The quality of cinema rapidly improved from 1910 onwards and "Afgrunden" was the turning point.
Asta Nielsen graced and livened many films over the remaining Silent Period (working mostly in Germany) and her natural, believable performances raised the bar in film acting by several notches. She became the new standard!
Director Urban Gad is not as well known as he should be but this film and "The Black Dream", made the following year, indicate he should be re-evaluated.