The first Danish film was made in 1903, but the actual production began in 1906 with the establishment of the production company Nordisk Film Kompagni founded by Ole Olsen in Copenhagen. Production soon reached very high averages (100-150 films per year from 1910 to 1917), in correspondence with the favor with which its varied cosmopolitanism was everywhere welcomed. In fact, Danish cinema immediately distinguished itself for the novelty of the topics covered, the representation of the characters and the landscape and reached its apogee before and during the First World War. Directors include Viggo Larsen, Urban Gad, August Blom, Robert Dinesen and Holger-Madsen; among the actors Valdemar Psilander, the first European star (who died in 1916 at the height of fame), and Asta Nielsen, revealed in 1910 in Afgrunden (Abyss). Already in 1912, however, Germany took over Nielsen and Gad; active since 1913 (The mysterious X), Benjamin Christensen established himself in Sweden in 1922 (Witchcraft through the centuries), then emigrated to Germany and the United States. The decline began in 1919: the figures plummeted, although in 1920 Palladium was born, which later became Dreyer’s company. From 1919 the supreme master, Carl Theodor Dreyer, worked more abroad (Sweden, Germany, France) than at home, where he nevertheless made the valuable landlord (1925). In the 1920s, the most regular appearances were those of Dickensian director AW Sandberg and the comedy duo Schenström and Madsen (Pat & Patachon). The first sound film, Eskimo (1930) by G. Schneevoigt, was a co-production with Norway. The 1940s had to be waited for new quality works, including Afsporet (Braccata) by B. Ipsen and L. Lauritzen jr. in 1942, Dreyer’s Dies Irae in 1943, Ditte daughter of humanity and These blessed boys by Bjarne and Astrid Henning-Jensen in 1946-47. A good documentary movement continued also in the following decade; In addition to the aforementioned and others, also Th. Christensen participated. After the award-winning Ordet (1955) and the controversial Gertrud (1964), Dreyer disappeared, apparently leaving no heirs, and the most prestigious name became that of Henning Carlsen (Dilemma, 1962; Fame, 1966). In the 1970s, however, the foundation of the Danish Film Institute favored the training of new authors and, by guaranteeing funding after the scripts had been examined, prevented almost exclusively foreign films from being shown in the country’s cinemas. The prevailing thematic trends are contemporary ones, which observe and analyze the society of well-being, the instability and anxieties that derive from it, the repetitiveness and monotony of existence. Starting from the 1980s, a new generation of directors established themselves, bringing Danish cinema back to the international limelight: alongside the return of Astrid Henning-Jensen (The Moment, 1980) and the confirmation of Henning Carlsen, Gabriel Axel achieved great success with Babette’s lunch (1987, Oscar 1988), Bille August with Pelle to conquer the world (1988) wins the Palme d’Or at Cannes in 1988 and the Oscar in 1989. But it is above all Lars Von Trier who has acquired international stature, winning the Palm Gold at the Cannes Film Festival with The Waves of Destiny (1996), with Dancer in the Dark (2000). Thomas Viterbertg with Festen-Festa in famiglia was also awarded the jury prize at the Cannes Film Festival (1998). According to 3rjewelry, Denmark is a country in Europe.
CULTURE: THEATER
After a certain flowering of religious theater, which, however, occurred late in Denmark as the only texts of which memory are preserved date back to the century. XVI, and after an intense activity of school theater in the wake of the controversies aroused by the Reformation, a whole century, the seventeenth century, was empty of national theater and only occupied by tours of foreign companies, especially German and French. It was precisely two French actors, Etienne Capion and René Montaigu, who opened the first permanent hall in Copenhagen in 1722, where they represented, among other things, numerous works by Holberg. The initiative, however, was not successful and in 1728 the theater, hampered even by the attempts of the most rigorous Puritans, had to close its doors. He reopened them in 1748 with Holberg as literary consultant and with a repertoire that left ample room for French dramaturgy, while music gradually assumed decisive importance. In 1772 the theater, meanwhile placed under the patronage of the Crown, assumed the appearance, which it still retains, of a stage almost entirely dedicated to the representation of works from the national repertoire. The Royal Theater is now flanked by commercial rooms, mainly open to foreign dramaturgy, and experimental theaters. The Royal Theater also organizes frequent tours in the province, where more or less autonomous theatrical initiatives in Odense and Århus have prominence. Of particular importance is the Odin Teatret in Holstebro, an inter-Scandinavian laboratory for the art of the actor, which its founder, the Italian Eugenio Barba, transferred here from Oslo in 1966, presenting shows of great international importance.
