Pigen med nålen / The Girl With the Needle

After World War I, factory worker Karoline from Copenhagen waits for news of her husband. She will not receive a widow's pension unless she can produce a death certificate. The gentle factory boss makes advances towards her, and she falls in love with him as well. But when his mother forbids the marriage, the heavily pregnant Karolina is left to fend for herself.
This woman's story is told in existentialist black-and-white images. The aesthetic lends the setting a realistic feel, emphasizing the harshness of the work, and the miserable housing and living conditions. At the same time, the film borrows from Expressionist horror films. Karoline’s husband returns traumatized and crippled, hiding his disfigured face behind a mask. Dagmar, a woman who sells babies born to destitute mothers to couples willing to adopt them, looks like a witch. For Karolina though, she becomes an ally. As abysmal and dark as the story is, the film has a utopian ending.