It isn't every day I watch a new film that leaves me breathless and grieving. But it's also not every day I finish a film feeling inspired. The film I'm referring to is, "The Girl with the Needle" which appeared at a few film festivals last year before its full release in the U.S. on January 24th of this year. (As of the writing of this review, "The Girl with the Needle" is currently available to watch on the streaming service, MUBI.)
A poor, lower-class woman working in a sewing factory in 1918 Denmark struggles to make ends meet as she starts an affair with the factory manager. But as WWI comes to an end, so do this woman's possibilities for a secure future. When she becomes pregnant outside of marriage, she's fired from her job, forbidden future contact with her upper-class lover, and left broke and alone. With no way to care for her approaching infant, this leading lady starts making desperate decisions and joins an illegal adoption ring.
"The Girl with the Needle" is a painful, heart-wrenching, historical drama covering unwanted pregnancy, drug addiction, and the scarring consequences of war. I know this description makes the film sound like a huge downer, and yes, it has many sad moments. But it has many touching moments and gripping moments also. It's like a parable of female instinct and resilience showing a young woman's traumatic coming of age from naive determination to collapsed shock to developed resolve.
Even though this one is adapted from true events that happened in Denmark, it felt totally unpredictable as a harrowing, unashamed examination of morality. Maybe that's why this film is shot in black and white, possibly reminding viewers the older we get, the less black and white our principles can become; the less clear the lines between right and wrong can appear. The longer I watched this film in its two-hour and three-minute run-time, the more I realized the universal necessity of empathy for everyone.
Swedish director and co-screenwriter, Magnus von Horn ("Sweat," 2020) has such a deft emotional touch with this film, because nothing feels judgmental or sermonic about the decisions this young woman makes. And the stylistic choices are powerful in their everyday starkness. Pairing the distressed, grim look of a post-WWI drama with a surprisingly contemporary musical score of unsettling percussive rhythms helps build the intensity and danger brilliantly.
"The Girl with the Needle" has received nominations from the Golden Globe Awards, the Cannes Film Festival, and most recently, the Academy Awards, among many other honors. Although this film is set over a century ago, the struggles of women's reproductive choices (or lack thereof) still have a current and relatable sting. I know I don't say this a lot, but please put this film on your watch list. It will stay with you long after its hopeful conclusion.
