A One Mann’s Movies review of “The Girl With The Needle” (2024).
Original title: Pigen med nålen
Another nominee for the International Oscar, “The Girl With The Needle” is Denmark’s entry and is a stressful watch. There are things that happen in this film that make you go “NO! SURELY NOT!” – so it is not for the faint-hearted.
Bob the Movie Man Rating:
“The Girl With The Needle” Plot Summary:
It’s 1917 Copenhagen. As the Great War ends, Karoline (Vic Carmen Sonne) finds herself destitute, jobless and pregnant. Unable to keep the baby under those conditions, she turns to the kindly Dagmar (Trine Dyrholm) and her young daughter Erena (Ava Knox Martin) for help.
Certification:
UK: 15; US: NR. (From the BBFC web site: “Distressing scenes, drug misuse, strong sex”. I feel that given the subject matter involved here, this is a borderline ’18’ certificate. There are some scenes in this one that stay with you.)
Talent:
Starring: Vic Carmen Sonne, Trine Dyrholm, Ava Knox Martin, Besir Zeciri, Joachim Fjelstrup, Tessa Hoder.
Directed by: Magnus von Horn.
Written by: Line Langebek Knudsen & Magnus von Horn.
Running Time: 2h 3m.
“The Girl With The Needle” Summary:
Positives:
- A film with a wonderful sense of place: 1917 Copenhagen is beautifully realised and some scenes look like the silent era.
- The script takes you on a rollercoaster of emotions… many of them very dark.
- Vic Carmen Sonne delivers a knockout performance in the lead role.
- A final screen caption hits like a hammer.
Negatives:
- Many will seriously not enjoy the darker aspects of this story.
Review of “The Girl With The Needle”:
A really dark and twisted tale.
You start by wondering if you’ve stumbled accidently into a horror film from the opening shots. They show a series of horribly distorted and superimposed faces. And you wouldn’t be far wrong. For this is a memorable trek down a very dark road.
Karoline’s husband Peter (the surprisingly good-looking Besir Zeciri!) is missing presumed dead in the War and so Karoline forms a relationship with the boss of her clothing factory Jørgen (Joachim Fjelstrup) and gets pregnant. And you don’t need me to tell you who turns up then! This part of the plot is pretty obvious. Where the film goes from there though is very unpredictable and quite shocking. It’s like a mixture of “????????” and “????????” with a splash of “????????” (I don’t want to say and spoil it for you – check out the spoiler section below the trailer).
This part of the story is very dark indeed and will turn many sensitive viewers off the whole film. And I’m not even talking about why the “girl” gets the “needle” moniker! Nothing exceedingly graphic is shown on screen. But the audio and your imagination suitably fill in the gaps.
The real kicker is a final line of text thrown up on the screen at the end of the film.
Vic Carmen Sonne.
There have just been so many great roles for women in movies in the last year that the Best Actress Nominations have really been spoiled for choice. Fernanda Torres won the Oscar’s ‘Golden Indie Ticket’ for her performance in “I’m Still Here“. But as I said yesterday, I think Soheila Golestani was potentially worthy for “The Seed of the Sacred Fig” and I could argue that Vic Carmen Sonne should stand consideration for inclusion for this performance. I’ve not been familiar with her work before, but she feels like she could be another Sandra Hüller-style European breakthrough artist. One to watch.
Production Design and Cinematography.
The film is beautifully realised. This is not the Copenhagen of today – the streets are mostly unpaved and dirty and the sewing factory is torrid and grimy. The film is also beutifully shot by Michal Dymek in crisp black and white and in an expressionist style. The combination of Dymek’s lighting and the make-up employed makes many of the shots reminiscent of the early films of the silent era (which, of course, was around this time anyway). Sonne often resembles the likes of Clara Bow and Lillian Gish, which is surely not accidental.
Music
Also worthy of note is the music by Frederikke Hoffmeier which has a modern sensibility but is suspenseful and very fitting for the content.
Triggers
There is an abortion theme, an adoption theme and a suicide theme within the movie that might be triggering to some viewers. In general, this is one that pregnant and young mums might want to check out the Spoiler section below the trailer before committing to.
Summary Thoughts on “The Girl With The Needle”
A darkly impressive film that will not be to everyone’s tastes. Once again, I am left in a quandary about what my “Should Win” selvection should be for the Oscar for Best International Film. But this one, together with “I’m Still Here” and “The Seed of the Sacred Fig“, are all films I would put ahead of “Emilia Pérez” to win the prize.
Where to Watch it (Powered by Justwatch)
Trailer for “The Girl With The Needle”:
The trailer is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mo8VcGW7qvs.
Spoiler Section:
Don’t read past this point if you’ve not seen the movie.
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NO, SERIOUSLY!
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Spoiler references
What I wanted to say was that it’s like a mixture of the BBC’s “Call the Midwife” and “Sweeney Todd” with a splash of 2018’s classic circus film “Freaks”.
The True Story
The film is based on a real-life serial killer. Taking extracts from this excellent write-up from time.com:
Between 1915 and 1920, a Copenhagen woman, Dagmar Overbye, offered to take on unwanted babies for a fee, telling the mothers they were going to a good home. Instead, she murdered them. Overbye was eventually caught and sentenced to death in 1921.
Where the film takes some creative licence is with the character of Karoline.
Karoline is based on the woman who ultimately brought the police to Overbye’s door, wanting her baby back. Von Horn and Langebek took creative license with her story, and now have Karoline spend more time with Overbye before she is caught. When the Karoline of the film comes back to Dagmar’s door she is sucked into Overbye’s orbit, becoming a wet nurse for her. Van Horn likens the film to a “fairy tale.”
Triggering factors
The film shows Karoline in a bath-house bath using a long needle to try to self-miscarry her baby. There is also a scene (undetailed) of Dagmar strangling one young newborn before disposing of the body in a fast-flowing drain. In another scene, Dagmar forces Karoline to crush a baby she is holding by hugging her and then lying on Karoline in the bed until the baby is silenced.
Re the suicide theme, the film shows Karoline throwing herself from a window in an attempt to commit suicide.
A moment of lightness
For such a dark journey, the film does have an uplifting end, with Dagmar being convicted in court and Karoline travelling to the orphanage to ‘rescue’ Erena (Ava Knox Martin) through adoption. This was a welcome end to the film for me.
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