A Needle in Time: Unraveling 'The Girl with the Needle'
The Girl with the Needle is set in the streets of post war Copenhagen in 1919 when Karoline, a young pregnant seamstress is unemployed and desperate. But there is hope in her meeting with Dagmar (Dagmar, who runs a secret adoption agency), who promises and demonstrates the tough realities. Karoline digs deeper and an eerie hidden world beneath is hinted upon.
The film maintains an appropriate balance of sombre solemnity of film history drama and intense personal emotion of the protagonist. The changing Denmark, pregnancy, themes of the sociology of gender roles, maternal sacrifice all become entwined with themes of moral ambiguity. Vic Carmen Sonne brings depth and vulnerability to her character’s plight and delivers a poignant, intimate and often heart wrenching performance. As is Trine Dyrholm as Dagmar, a woman of many faces. A strong ensemble helps to bring their nuanced portrayals, each layering further a rich tapestry of early 20th century Copenhagen, while a script sure-footed in its period mooring remains both timeless and fixed to the spectrum of its own era.
Under the direction of Magnus von Horn, the film manages period backdrop with deft aplomb, an assured narrative that’s both period perfect and lasting. The layered narratives of each character’s journey are all brought out more by the empathetic lens his perspective lends to each character’s journey.
The score, a melancholy one that echoes the melancholy in each character’s journey, reinforces the bond to the emotional arc of the story as well as ingraining itself into the roots of the view’s heart.
The cinematography is beautiful visually, the palette is bright but muted. The filming takes place within the warm but desolate streets of Copenhagen.
The production design is superlative, period-appropriate costumes, set pieces, and props make it totally believable as a post war film.
The use of special effects is subtle but highly effective, indeed it is enhanced rather than obtrusive of the wider narrative. [They] effortlessly marry with the films historical texture, raw and real, adding to it without being flashy about it, and the editing is fluid, moving easily and seamlessly from tense dramatic scenes to moments of reflective silence. Every cut and transition is executed with empathy to maintain the storys fluidity and momentum.|It doesn’t hit you with an overwhelming amount of action, instead, it is delivered at a deliberate, slow pace but one that is inevitable. This allows the audience to completely submerge themselves into the story while each scene serves to ultimately build the overarching narrative.
The dialog is authentic and feels very much so as each of these characters have their own distinct voice. The Girl with the Needle succeeds in generating a cinematic and moving depiction of its time without resorting to melodrama or over explanation, letting in profound insights into their battles and fears while remaining perhaps a little too predictable at times. One that could’ve used a bit more of that kind of character arc was the leads.
The Girl with the Needle, is a movie that swallows you in its era, drops you down a rabbit hole of courage, resilience, and hidden truths. It lingers, with powerful performances and a story that hangs around well after the credits roll. What is seen in this cinematic journey is felt, and never forgotten, in the audience’s heart as the film comes to and end.
